Would this not be an act of war, or has the legislation not been updated to include cyber attacks?
Iran is poised to attack US drinking water supplies, the Biden administration has warned, amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, sent a warning to state governors asking them to be on guard for potential cyber attacks on their critical infrastructure systems.
The warning letter was co-authored by Michael Regan, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency and made public on Tuesday.
In it, they cited ongoing threats from hackers linked to the governments of Iran and China and warned hackers associated with both states have previously attacked water systems.
‘Attractive target for hackers’
“Disabling cyber attacks are striking water and waste water systems throughout the United States,” the pair wrote.
They warned that drinking water and waste water systems were “an attractive target” for hackers because while they are “lifeline-critical” they “often lack the resources and technical capacity” to protect themselves from potential attacks.
“We need your support to ensure that all water systems in your state comprehensively assess their current cyber security practices to identify any significant vulnerabilities,” they told state governors.
They went on to request that each state exercises plans to prepare and recover from a potential cyber incident.
It comes after figures associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Iranian state security body, were identified by Washington as carrying out cyber attacks against critical US infrastructure entities, including drinking water systems.
The IRGC-linked hackers were able to target and disable a common type of operational technology used at water facilities where the facility had neglected to change a default manufacturer password, according to the Biden administration.
In late November, Iranian-backed hackers attacked Israeli-made digital controls commonly used in the water and waste water industries in the US, affecting several states, according to Bloomberg, although it did not affect water supplies.
‘Potential to disrupt critical lifeline’
Meanwhile, Volt Typhoon, a Chinese state-sponsored group, has also previously compromised drinking water and other critical infrastructure systems, the Biden administration letter warned.
It stated: “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 US government had assessed with a high degree of confidence that Volt Typhoon is “pre-positioning” to “disrupt critical infrastructure operations” in the event of rising tensions or military conflicts, the letter said.
The water system is an especially vulnerable part of US infrastructure, fraught with weak controls, insufficient funding and staffing shortages.
I wish people would wake up and see what were about to head into in the next coming years..
Maybe that would improve Iowa’s waterways, with the way the governor has destroyed the state’s DNR, and left natural waterways in disarray
And this is why you don’t connect your critical infrastructure to the fucking internet.
nestle profits just shot way the fuck up and will continue to
Who are the Biden Administration warning here? They should be warning Iran that they will no longer have a country if this happens
Not surprised. Sometime around 2005 I visited a newly online water treatment plant for work and they were very proud of the fact they could use a remote access program to run the facility. Simple password no firewall. I asked about security and the response was something along the lines of needing lower and uppercase letters in the password.
Iran will attack Isreal the moment Trump becomes president. China will invade Taiwan the moment Trump becomes president. North Korea will attack South Korea the moment Trump becomes president. Russia will double down on Ukraine and also starts threatening the Baltic states the moment Trump becomes president. All orchestrated or supported by Putin. And Europe will not be ready to react properly relying on a US that will do nothing.
Nestle beat them to it
What the hell does this even mean? Why is our govt so afraid to attack our enemies? People need to get the fuck over Iraq and Afghanistan. People need to get over this fear of killing other people and wake up and remember that there are truly evil people in this world who need and deserve to die otherwise they will continue killing the ones who don’t.
Do something about it then
Guarding my well now. Haven’t seen any intruders yet
That’s not cool. They should just tell iran that they will be de-regimed in 2 weeks if they do so.
Japan’s trade firms have cozy relationship with Iran.
Warren Buffett holds lion’s share of these firms.
US should sanction Japanese trade firms ASAP.
so he means like the local politicians? ie flint,Michigan?
Here it comes…
Looks like America will try to export freedom to Iran soon!
All I see is yet another convenient boogeyman excuse for not maintaining pieces of now crumbling critical infrastructure.
So fucking destroy everything they own?
this is the sequel of the dr. strangelove isn’t it?
State sponsored attacks deserve states sponsored retaliation. I’m sure US hackers could do at least as well in return if simply cracking their reservoirs open the old fashioned way is too much fuss and bother. Most of us are fed up with their constant cyber rattling in the inbox , just fuck em up good for us now Uncle Sam .
Good luck
This reminds of the Megaman Battle Network 1 plot, you had to save the towns water supply after a terroist group attacked it via the net
We’ve come full circle
Thankfully this type of attack might not really work on bigger city water systems. At least for larger operations, most plants have the ability to run in manual if something like this actually happens. Additionally, even though they aren’t completely immune to it, there’s usually an intranet system in place to reduce the risk of cyberattacks.
Not saying these it isn’t possible, but it wouldn’t be as easy as people think. Still, better safe than sorry.
If we catch them, can we give them the Batman treatment? You know, break every bone in their body but leave them alive in what I assume is horrendous pain for months if not years?
And here I am wanting to get into the cyber security field. Why can’t a government agency just hire me and train me to help defend the nation?
Flatten ‘em
I’m glad I have my own well.
Further, attacking municipal water systems would be difficult and time consuming for them, so it’s unlikely. There’s so many of them all across the country that targeting them would be foolish. I think this is just propaganda.
Bad take. But can we just bulldoze the middle east and help the people that want to start over like start over?
Seriously I never ever hear ANYTHING positive from that region. It’s always attack, Kill, Attack, Kill etc. What do they even bring to the Wolrd Stage?
So stop them, then
When will cyber attack be taken seriously?
How about we pass a bill to invest in more infrastructure security? Oh wait, that would take the traitorous scum in the GOP House actually doing something. What a joke
32 comments
Would this not be an act of war, or has the legislation not been updated to include cyber attacks?
Iran is poised to attack US drinking water supplies, the Biden administration has warned, amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, sent a warning to state governors asking them to be on guard for potential cyber attacks on their critical infrastructure systems.
The warning letter was co-authored by Michael Regan, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency and made public on Tuesday.
In it, they cited ongoing threats from hackers linked to the governments of Iran and China and warned hackers associated with both states have previously attacked water systems.
‘Attractive target for hackers’
“Disabling cyber attacks are striking water and waste water systems throughout the United States,” the pair wrote.
They warned that drinking water and waste water systems were “an attractive target” for hackers because while they are “lifeline-critical” they “often lack the resources and technical capacity” to protect themselves from potential attacks.
“We need your support to ensure that all water systems in your state comprehensively assess their current cyber security practices to identify any significant vulnerabilities,” they told state governors.
They went on to request that each state exercises plans to prepare and recover from a potential cyber incident.
It comes after figures associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Iranian state security body, were identified by Washington as carrying out cyber attacks against critical US infrastructure entities, including drinking water systems.
The IRGC-linked hackers were able to target and disable a common type of operational technology used at water facilities where the facility had neglected to change a default manufacturer password, according to the Biden administration.
In late November, Iranian-backed hackers attacked Israeli-made digital controls commonly used in the water and waste water industries in the US, affecting several states, according to Bloomberg, although it did not affect water supplies.
‘Potential to disrupt critical lifeline’
Meanwhile, Volt Typhoon, a Chinese state-sponsored group, has also previously compromised drinking water and other critical infrastructure systems, the Biden administration letter warned.
It stated: “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 US government had assessed with a high degree of confidence that Volt Typhoon is “pre-positioning” to “disrupt critical infrastructure operations” in the event of rising tensions or military conflicts, the letter said.
The water system is an especially vulnerable part of US infrastructure, fraught with weak controls, insufficient funding and staffing shortages.
I wish people would wake up and see what were about to head into in the next coming years..
Maybe that would improve Iowa’s waterways, with the way the governor has destroyed the state’s DNR, and left natural waterways in disarray
And this is why you don’t connect your critical infrastructure to the fucking internet.
nestle profits just shot way the fuck up and will continue to
Who are the Biden Administration warning here? They should be warning Iran that they will no longer have a country if this happens
Not surprised. Sometime around 2005 I visited a newly online water treatment plant for work and they were very proud of the fact they could use a remote access program to run the facility. Simple password no firewall. I asked about security and the response was something along the lines of needing lower and uppercase letters in the password.
Iran will attack Isreal the moment Trump becomes president. China will invade Taiwan the moment Trump becomes president. North Korea will attack South Korea the moment Trump becomes president. Russia will double down on Ukraine and also starts threatening the Baltic states the moment Trump becomes president. All orchestrated or supported by Putin. And Europe will not be ready to react properly relying on a US that will do nothing.
Nestle beat them to it
What the hell does this even mean? Why is our govt so afraid to attack our enemies? People need to get the fuck over Iraq and Afghanistan. People need to get over this fear of killing other people and wake up and remember that there are truly evil people in this world who need and deserve to die otherwise they will continue killing the ones who don’t.
Do something about it then
Guarding my well now. Haven’t seen any intruders yet
That’s not cool. They should just tell iran that they will be de-regimed in 2 weeks if they do so.
Japan’s trade firms have cozy relationship with Iran.
Warren Buffett holds lion’s share of these firms.
US should sanction Japanese trade firms ASAP.
so he means like the local politicians? ie flint,Michigan?
Here it comes…
Looks like America will try to export freedom to Iran soon!
All I see is yet another convenient boogeyman excuse for not maintaining pieces of now crumbling critical infrastructure.
So fucking destroy everything they own?
this is the sequel of the dr. strangelove isn’t it?
State sponsored attacks deserve states sponsored retaliation. I’m sure US hackers could do at least as well in return if simply cracking their reservoirs open the old fashioned way is too much fuss and bother. Most of us are fed up with their constant cyber rattling in the inbox , just fuck em up good for us now Uncle Sam .
Good luck
This reminds of the Megaman Battle Network 1 plot, you had to save the towns water supply after a terroist group attacked it via the net
We’ve come full circle
Thankfully this type of attack might not really work on bigger city water systems. At least for larger operations, most plants have the ability to run in manual if something like this actually happens. Additionally, even though they aren’t completely immune to it, there’s usually an intranet system in place to reduce the risk of cyberattacks.
Not saying these it isn’t possible, but it wouldn’t be as easy as people think. Still, better safe than sorry.
If we catch them, can we give them the Batman treatment? You know, break every bone in their body but leave them alive in what I assume is horrendous pain for months if not years?
And here I am wanting to get into the cyber security field. Why can’t a government agency just hire me and train me to help defend the nation?
Flatten ‘em
I’m glad I have my own well.
Further, attacking municipal water systems would be difficult and time consuming for them, so it’s unlikely. There’s so many of them all across the country that targeting them would be foolish. I think this is just propaganda.
Bad take. But can we just bulldoze the middle east and help the people that want to start over like start over?
Seriously I never ever hear ANYTHING positive from that region. It’s always attack, Kill, Attack, Kill etc. What do they even bring to the Wolrd Stage?
So stop them, then
When will cyber attack be taken seriously?
How about we pass a bill to invest in more infrastructure security? Oh wait, that would take the traitorous scum in the GOP House actually doing something. What a joke