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American Water, the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the U.S., announced Tuesday that it was the target of a “cybersecurity incident.”The New Jersey-based utility company became aware of “unauthorized activity” in their computer networks and systems on Thursday that was determined to be the result of a cyberattack, it said in a statement. American Water also took their customer portal service offline as part of their response, putting a pause on billing "until further notice," they said. Founded in 1886, American Water provides drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people across 14 states and 18 military facilities, according to their website. The company manages more than 500 water and wastewater systems in approximately 1,700 communities, including in California, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The investigation into the cyberattack is ongoing "and will take time to complete," American Water said.

Organizations: Water Locations: U.S, The New Jersey, California , Illinois , Kentucky , New Jersey, Pennsylvania

☆ American Water, largest water utility, hit by cyberattack at time of rising threats against U.S. water supply
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-08 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

American Water , the largest water utility in the U.S., disclosed that it had been hit by a cyberattack. Hacks targeting U.S. water infrastructure, in particular, have been increasing, with some of the attacks linked to geopolitical rivals of the U.S., including Iran, Russia and China. "All drinking water and wastewater systems are at risk — large and small, urban and rural," an EPA spokesman recently told CNBC. American Water provides drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and on 18 military installations. It said turning off customer systems was intended to protect data, though it added that it is too soon to know whether any customer information is at risk.

Persons: Adam Isles Organizations: EPA, CNBC, American Water, U.S . Air Force, Chertoff Group, FBI, Water, Environmental Protection Agency Locations: U.S, Camden , New Jersey, Iran, Russia, China, Texas, Muleshoe, United States

☆ Pro-Russia hackers are breaking into critical American and European infrastructure, security agencies warn
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Ella Sherman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Pro-Russia hackers are targeting infrastructure systems in the US and Europe, says a security advisory. Hackers have infiltrated infrastructure sectors in water, dams, energy, and agriculture. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementInfrastructure systems in the US and Europe are vulnerable targets for pro-Russia hackers, numerous security agencies cautioned in a May 1 advisory statement. The agencies observed pro-Russia hackers compromise the operational technology of infrastructure such as "Water and Wastewater Systems (WWS), Dams, Energy, and Food and Agriculture Sectors."

Persons: —, Sandworm Organizations: Service, FBI, Infrastructure Security Agency, Wastewater Systems, Energy, Food, Agriculture, Google, Department of Justice Locations: Russia, Europe, North America, Dams, Texas, Ukraine, South Korea

☆ Russia-linked hacking group claims to have targeted Indiana water plant
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Hackers targeted a wastewater treatment plant in Indiana on Friday evening, prompting plant managers to send maintenance personnel to investigate the suspicious activity, a local official told CNN. A Russia-linked hacking group claimed responsibility. The same group claimed credit for a string of hacking incidents against water facilities in Texas earlier this year. On Saturday, Russian-speaking hackers posted a video to social media claiming credit for a cyberattack on a TMU wastewater treatment plant. It’s the latest apparent effort by a group of Russian-speaking hackers to target water facilities in small American towns.

Persons: “, Jim Ankrum, “ TMU, ” Ankrum, Ankrum, Department of Homeland Security’s, Jake Sullivan, Mandiant, Ron Fabela, ” Fabela Organizations: CNN, Tipton Municipal Utilities, Tipton, Department of Homeland, Infrastructure Security Agency, US, Telegram, Infinity Squared Locations: Indiana, Russia, Texas, Tipton Municipal, Indianapolis, Muleshoe , Texas, United States, Tipton

☆ Russia-linked hacking group suspected of carrying out cyberattack on Texas water facility, cybersecurity firm says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A hacking group with ties to the Russian government is suspected of carrying out a cyberattack in January that caused a tank at a Texas water facility to overflow, experts from US cybersecurity firm Mandiant said Wednesday. Muleshoe officials replaced the hacked software system and took other steps to secure the network, Sanchez said. “Regulations have not required this low-hanging fruit to be addressed,” Serino told CNN. “I’ve never experienced this before but … we’re aware that those threats are out there,” Poling told CNN by phone. “The haphazardness is part of their pathological emphasis on psychological impact,” Dan Black, a Mandiant analyst, told CNN.

Persons: Mandiant, Jake Sullivan, Sullivan, Ramon Sanchez, Sanchez, ”, Gus Serino, ” Serino, ” Anne Neuberger, ” The, Harris, Neuberger, Buster Poling, Mike Cypert, Poling, “ I’ve, ” Poling, Nick Conger, Sandworm, ” Dan Black Organizations: CNN, FBI, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, White, ” The Biden, Hale Center, Russian Embassy, State of, GRU, “ Locations: Texas, US, Muleshoe, Pennsylvania, Iran, United States, Russian, Ukraine, Lockney’s, Hale, Washington ,, State of Texas

☆ China Could Threaten Critical Infrastructure in a Conflict, N.S.A. Chief Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Julian E. Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China has been trying to find ways to gain access to critical infrastructure in the United States so that it can threaten those systems in the event of a conflict, the National Security Agency director said on Wednesday. and the U.S. military’s Cyber Command in February, said that Beijing had stepped up its cyberefforts and that the United States, in response, was working harder to disrupt that activity. Last year, U.S. officials uncovered an effort by China to gain access to critical infrastructure in Guam, home to U.S. military bases, and in the continental United States. Microsoft called the intrusions Volt Typhoon, after a Chinese network of hackers who often avoided using detectable malware and instead used stealthier techniques to enter wastewater systems and communication networks. “What you see in Volt Typhoon is an example of how China has approached establishing access to put things under threat,” General Haugh said at a security conference at Vanderbilt University.

Persons: Timothy D, Haugh, ” Organizations: National Security Agency, U.S, military’s, Command, Microsoft, Vanderbilt University Locations: China, United States, Beijing, Guam

☆ In Gaza, disease could be even deadlier than airstrikes, WHO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —As the Israel-Hamas conflict continues, there’s growing concern about how the situation may raise the risk of disease and illness in Gaza. There could be more deaths in Gaza from disease and a broken health infrastructure than from bombs and missiles, the World Health Organization has warned. “If the conflict impacts access to safe water, then there may be challenges with waterborne diseases,” she said. In this situation, the risk of death due to disease is much greater than the risk of death due to bombardment,” said Haque, who is not involved in WHO but has studied infectious disease, conflict and war. During the Israel-Hamas conflict, maternity care facilities have been affected by Israeli airstrikes due to evacuations, power outages, and a shortage of medical supplies.

Persons: “, Margaret Harris, Barry Levy, ”, Levy, Rebecca Katz, ” Katz, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, ” Tedros, Abed Rahim Khatib, Ubydul Haque, Haque, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Shifa, CNN’s Martin Goillandeau, Eleni Giokos Organizations: CNN, World Health Organization, WHO, Tufts University School of Medicine, Center for Global Health Science, Security, Georgetown University, United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, United Nations Office, Humanitarian Affairs, Getty, Rutgers Global Health Institute, CNN Health, Shifa Locations: Israel, Gaza, Covid, Al

☆ Alabama Discriminated Against Black Residents Over Sewage, Justice Dept. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Linda Qiu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department said it had reached an interim agreement with the health departments of Alabama and one of its rural counties over practices found to discriminate against generations of Black residents. Under the agreement announced Thursday, the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Lowndes County Health Department said they would improve wastewater infrastructure, measure the health risks associated with raw sewage exposure, and stop penalizing residents who cannot afford adequate treatment systems. The agreement represents “a new chapter for Black residents of Lowndes County, Ala., who have endured health dangers, indignities and racial injustice for far too long,” said Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division. Catherine Coleman Flowers, an environmental activist who grew up in Lowndes, said that residents of the county, like those in many other rural communities, use wastewater systems installed on the grounds of homes and businesses rather than a centralized sewage treatment plant operated by a local government. But the county stood alone in penalizing residents for sanitation issues that were outside their control, she added.

In the months since the most recent water woes began in Jackson, Mississippi, national attention has died down, donations have dwindled, and volunteers have been hard to come by. Thanks to donations and the national attention, grassroots organizers were able to distribute hundreds of cases of bottled water to panicked residents after the O.B. Michael Goldberg / AP fileJackson has one of the oldest water systems in the country, with authorities routinely directing residents to boil their water for safety, and residents often reporting brown water, leaking sewage and low water pressure. Since the water outage over the summer, residents have largely relied on bottled water for eating and drinking — and some for bathing as well. Months before the water outage in August, residents endured a cold snap in 2021, with extremely low temperatures freezing pipes and leaving many without water.

New York CNN Business —From retailers and computer chip makers to the oil-and-gas industry, businesses are scrambling to find workarounds where possible for a potentially devastating freight rail strike. Retailers, which rely on rail to move cargo from ports to warehouses, are considering shifting the timing of orders and shipments. Critically, the rail strike could disrupt the supply of chlorine and other critical chemicals used to keep drinking water safe. The oil-and-gas industry, for instance, warns a rail shutdown would spark fuel supply crunches and price spikes. “Congress appears likely to intervene in the coming days to avert a rail strike,” economists at Goldman Sachs wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.

☆ How water has been weaponised in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Local people fill up bottles with fresh drinking water, as the main supply pipeline for drinking water for the city was damaged in Kherson region at the beginning of Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Mykolaiv, Ukraine October 16, 2022. The attacks have disrupted electricity across large parts of Ukraine, killing dozens of people and leaving other places without access to clean water. "Ukraine's water infrastructure, from dams to water treatment and wastewater systems, has been extensively targeted by Russia," Gleick wrote in an email. After nearly a month without water, city officials were forced to begin pumping yellowish, salty water from the Southern Buh River estuary to clear sewers and let residents flush toilets and wash. Bottles of water are available in stores, but many residents, impoverished by war, depend on bottled water donations from abroad, even as pools of water snake onto streets from leaking mains.

“After years of neglect, Jackson’s water system finally reached a breaking point this summer, leaving tens of thousands of people without any running water for weeks. Lumumba said Monday that his administration intends to cooperate with federal officials. In late 2019, the state Health Department notified the EPA about concerns with the city’s water system. An inspection by the EPA raised alarms about problems, including not having enough properly credentialed staff members at the city’s water treatment plants. Mark Chalos, an attorney who filed the most recent class-action lawsuit, said many Jacksonians remain suspicious of the city’s water quality.

One of two state agencies responsible for pushing out millions of dollars in federal infrastructure funds said it could be at least mid-to-late 2023 before any allocations roll out. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, a Democrat, has said the price tag to overhaul the city’s water infrastructure could balloon into the billions. This year, the Mississippi Legislature created a $450 million water infrastructure funding program with money the state received through the Congressional Covid relief package that passed in 2021. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is administering the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program. Sam Mozee, director of the Mississippi Urban Research Center at Jackson State University, says his team is tracking what happens with funding going forward.

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