In a letter made public on Tuesday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan cautioned state governors about disruptive cyberattacks conducted by foreign hackers targeting water and sewage systems across the nation.
The letter highlighted that “disabling cyberattacks are striking water and wastewater systems throughout the United States.”
The letter specifically identified purported cyber saboteurs from Iran and China. Sullivan and Regan referenced a recent incident where hackers believed to be associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards allegedly disabled a controller at a water facility in Pennsylvania.
Additionally, they mentioned a Chinese hacking group known as “Volt Typhoon,” which they claimed had “compromised information technology of multiple critical infrastructure systems, including drinking water, in the United States and its territories.”
“These attacks have the potential to disrupt the critical lifeline of clean and safe drinking water, as well as impose significant costs on affected communities,” the letter said.
Cybersecurity professionals have harboured persistent concerns regarding the digital security of water and sewage plants due to their services’ critical nature and often inadequate defence mechanisms.
The incident last year at a booster facility in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, which oversees water pressure regulation, garnered significant attention. This attention was partly due to the fact that the compromised controller was replaced with a message stating: “YOU HAVE BEEN HACKED.”
