Cyberattacks have hit water systems in seven states. Photo by Sascha Steinbach/EPA
Aug. 1 (UPI) -- At least seven states have suffered cyberattacks on water systems as cities and states work to keep the water supplies safe.
There has been no indication that any water supply is unsafe to drink, the New York Times reported. Minnesota first reported a cyberattack and now Michigan has also reported attacks.
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency said in a release that it's "observing a significant increase in cyber threat actors targeting programmable logic controllers in the Water and Wastewater Systems sector. CISA urges critical infrastructure owners, operators, and integrators to remove publicly exposed PLCs and other operational technology from the Internet as soon as possible. Threat actors targeting exposed PLCs have modified passwords to lock out operators and disconnected the PLCs by changing their IP addresses. This activity has resulted in boil-water notices and sustained manual operations."
Officials told The Times that Iran has increased cyberattacks on American systems, but that the water attacks haven't been definitively declared to have come from Iran. But Iran has targeted water systems in the United States in the past. Because there's no financial motive, an attack by hacking criminals is less likely, The Times said.
