More Than 100 Water Systems Were Hit In July Cyberattacks
CISA says more than 100 internet-exposed U.S. water and wastewater systems were targeted in July, often through programmable logic controllers connected directly to cellular modems. "That's the first time the feds have put a number on the digital intrusions, but they have yet to attribute the campaign, widely suspected to be linked to Iran, to a particular group," reports The Register. From the…
In July, cyberattacks targeted over 100 U.S. water and wastewater systems that had internet-exposed components, according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The attacks, often delivered through programmable logic controllers (PLCs) linked to cellular modems, were suspected to be linked to Iran but no specific group has been identified.
The majority of the attacks occurred in small, rural utilities in Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia, South Dakota, and New Jersey. Experts warn that this is not an isolated incident but a systemic vulnerability across the sector, highlighting the critical infrastructure's reliance on operational technology that was not designed for internet connectivity.
While the attacks in July represented a small fraction of U.S. water utilities, approximately 0.5%, cybersecurity experts suggest these incidents could be prelude to larger-scale attacks. Federal agencies have recently warned that attackers are employing AI-generated scripts to breach internet-exposed PLCs in various critical facilities, including water, manufacturing, and energy sectors.
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