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July 30, 2026 / 8:51 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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Malicious cyber activity affected technology at more than 30 community water systems across Minnesota this week, forcing some utilities to switch to manual operations as state and federal authorities dig into who is behind the attack, CBS News has learned. Investigators are probing to determine whether the activity is the work of Iranian hackers, according to U.S. officials and sources familiar with the incident. Sources cautioned that since they had not definitively attributed the attack, their assessment could change as additional technical evidence is collected. They are also probing whether the actor could have attempted to appear Iran-based as a way of stirring the pot amid the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran. Minnesota and the federal government have not publicly attributed the activity to a particular actor.Most confirmed cases in the apparent cyberattack involved technology used to remotely monitor and control water system equipment, including devices called programmable logic controllers, according to Minnesota IT Services.None of Minnesota's water supply has been reported compromised as a result of the attack, Mike Ernster, a public information officer for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, told CBS News. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's Minnesota Fusion Center was working with municipalities, as well as state and federal partners, to address the issue, he added.Nick Anderson, acting director of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration, confirmed that the agency "is currently observing a significant increase in cyber threat actors targeting programmable logic controllers (PLC) at water utilities." "We urge critical infrastructure owners and operators to remove publicly exposed PLCs and other operational technology from the internet as soon as possible," he added.
