The reports in Michigan surfaced after the state received a federal cyber alert Tuesday about attempts to tamper with operational technology at water systems.<\/p>\n
Soon after, the state received \u201ca small number of reports from Michigan communities indicating activity consistent with what federal agencies described,\u201d said Dale George, the director of communications at the state\u2019s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. He later said nine systems were impacted.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll systems continued to operate safely, issues were addressed by local operators, and there are no known impacts that posed a public health concern,\u201d George said in a statement.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n The FBI, which is investigating, has not publicly identified a culprit and a spokesperson declined to say Thursday who the bureau thought might be responsible, though federal officials told the New York Times that Iran was the chief suspect, with Braham Mayor Nate George quoted as saying he was \u201cpretty sure it\u2019s Iranian actors\u201d but was hesitant to say so publicly. The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other agencies warned in an advisory last week that Iranian hackers have been targeting water and wastewater systems and the operational controls of other critical infrastructure sectors.<\/p>\n \u201cThe FBI is aware of recent public reporting around Water and Wastewater (WWS) sectors,\u201d the agency said in a statement Saturday. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Digital warfare has become ingrained in military conflict, and local water plants or healthcare facilities often lack the funds and know-how to install the latest software patches or take other security steps. That has made them a favorite target, both because of the relative ease of penetrating them and because of the panic such disruptions can cause.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s interest in the operations of water systems inside the US dates back years. In 2016, the Justice Department charged a group of Iranian hackers in connection with a cyberattack targeting a small dam near New York City.<\/p>\n Minnesota IT Services said that as of Thursday, there were no active requests from Minnesota communities for residents to modify usage of their drinking water. The state agency said most of the confirmed attacks involved technology that water systems use to remotely monitor and control equipment. It said that being impacted meant investigators confirmed there was malicious activity involving the system\u2019s technology and didn\u2019t mean every impacted community had their water service disrupted.<\/p>\n For a few hours on Monday, the city of Braham asked residents to minimize water use as they tried to determine why the water plant was offline. The city of about 1,700 people, located about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, said in a news release that the water plant outage was due to a cyberattack, but it didn\u2019t cause any issue with water quality.<\/p>\n The city said the attackers shut down the operating controls that shut down the well and water treatment plant. That left the city for a time only able to provide residents with the water held in the water tower.<\/p>\n In Plymouth, a city of about 80,000 located outside of Minneapolis, officials said on social media that their water infrastructure communications had been restored by Tuesday afternoon following a cyberattack.<\/p>\n \t During a cabinet meeting on Friday at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, US President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that recent cyberattacks in Minnesota were the fault of the state, including Democratic Governor Tim Walz.<\/p>\n \u201cWe heard in Minnesota there was a cyberattack, and they blame it on Iran. I don\u2019t think so,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI think I blame it on Minnesota because they\u2019re grossly incompetent.\u201d<\/p>\n Waltz responded on social media, saying Trump \u201cknows exactly who is responsible for this attack, and knows that other states were hit too.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has previously politicized major cyber incidents, including when in 2016 he urged Russia to hack Hillary Clinton\u2019s emails, or when he downplayed Russian hacking efforts in the 2016 elections.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tIllustrative: A cybersecurity expert talks about Iran\u2019s hacking techniques in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 20, 2017. (AP Photo\/Kamran Jebreili)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26212571453724-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tPresident Donald Trump speaks, joined by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, from top left, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, and bottom left from center, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, during a cabinet meeting, July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md., July 31, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/p>\n
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