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(NewsNation) — Water and wastewater sector utility companies in at least seven states have now reported cyberattacks to the FBI.
In some cases, water systems had to be shut down altogether.
Authorities said cyberattacks targeted more than 30 water systems throughout Minnesota, including the city of Plymouth, just outside Minneapolis, with a population of nearly 80,000.
Officials in Minnesota, however, stressed the cyberattacks did not impact water quality.
On Saturday, the attacks spread, with Michigan now reporting cyberattacks on nine of its water systems.
The FBI said in a statement it was aware of the attacks.
“The FBI and our interagency partners are fully engaged to protect critical infrastructure and we remain well-equipped to protect against cyber threats of all varieties,” the statement said.
The agency has not said who is behind the attacks.
The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency warned in a letter that Iranian hackers have targeted water systems and other critical infrastructure in the past.
They identified the threat to “programmable logic controllers,” or PLCs, in water systems and urged infrastructure owners to remove publicly exposed PLCs from the internet.
Michael McAndrews, a former special agent with the FBI’s cyberteam, told NewsNation that these attacks are common and can occur on a massive scale, with bad actors exploiting parts of our critical infrastructure tied to the internet, possibly with simple, default passwords.
“What happens is, the attackers will scan the internet, and they’ll look for the signature of known devices. When they find one, they simply try the default password. If it hasn’t been changed, then they’re in. When it comes to operational technology and things like PLCs, a lot of these passwords are coded by the manufacturers, and if they’re exposed to the internet, that signature comes back, the attackers immediately try it, and if they can get in, they’ll get in and see what they can do,” he said.
McAndrews said there were no ransom demands, so it appears the attacks were trying to stoke fear.
When news of the attacks broke, President Trump downplayed the possibility that Iran could be behind the attack and instead pointed the finger at Minnesota and Gov. Tim Walz.
“Today, I just want to mention that we heard in Minnesota there was a cyberattack, and they blame it on Iran. I don’t think so. I think — I blame it on Minnesota because they’re grossly incompetent. There was a cyberattack. 30 water plants,” Trump said. “They like to say, Oh, it was Iran. Iran should be so lucky. Iran’s got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota.”
Walz responded on X, saying that Trump knows who is responsible and that this is what modern warfare looks like and illustrates that there is no plan to end the war with Iran.
McAndrews told NewsNation there is little reason to be worried about water safety being compromised.
“From my experience in working with critical infrastructure, and particularly with the water utilities, we’ve conducted exercises, and we found that while there might have been some exposure on PLCs that might have caused a valve to be flipped or monitoring to be lost, we’re very confident that the water supply was safe and secure,” he said.
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