Michigan Joins Minnesota in Reporting Cyberattacks on Water Systems
The FBI is investigating attacks on about 30 Minnesota sites and nine in Michigan. Officials say drinking water stayed safe. Federal agencies had warned that Iranian hackers were targeting such systems.
Michigan said Saturday, August 1, that nine of its water systems had been hit by cyberattacks, days after Minnesota reported attacks on about 30 sites, the Associated Press reports. Federal agencies have said water systems in at least seven states were affected but have not named the others. The FBI said it and partner agencies are fully engaged and is investigating; it has not publicly named who is responsible.
Officials in both states said water remained safe. 'All systems continued to operate safely, issues were addressed by local operators, and there are no known impacts that posed a public health concern,' said Dale George of Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. In Braham, Minnesota, a city of about 1,700, attackers shut down the controls for a well and treatment plant, leaving the city relying for a time on water stored in its tower; the city said water quality was not affected. Most confirmed attacks involved equipment used to monitor and control systems remotely.
The FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other agencies had warned in an advisory the week before that Iranian hackers were targeting water and wastewater systems. President Trump said he did not believe Iran was responsible and blamed Minnesota's state government; Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said the president knows who is responsible and that other states were hit as well.
Sources