Cyber ​​attack on water authorities in America due to the use of Israeli equipment

According to the report of Fars International News Agency, the water department of the small city of Aliquipa, located in the state of Pennsylvania, can probably be called the smallest victim of a series of cyber attacks on companies active in the field of water supply services in the United States. This department has never had to resort to external help to protect its systems from cyber attacks.

Fox News website and other American media have reported that this department is one of the few organizations active in The field of water services in the United States has been exposed to cyber attacks in recent days.

Federal officials in the United States have claimed that these attacks are directed by hackers linked to Iran, who are in one piece The equipment is attacking because it is made in Israel.

Matthew Motz, head of the department that manages water and sewer services for the 22,000 residents of Aliquipa, told Fox News. : “If I were told to list the names of 10 problems that could happen to your water authority, this case would never be one of them.”

Hackers after hacking a The Unitrix device left a message saying: “Any equipment made in Israel is a legitimate target for cyber avengers.” It has caused new warnings from American security officials at a time when the state and federal governments are involved in several challenges to strengthen the systems of water service organizations against cyber attacks. American officials have said that the main danger in This is because hackers may take control of automatic equipment and stop drinking water supply pumps or contaminate drinking water. American officials have said that in addition to Iran, other hostile geopolitical rivals such as China are also considered a threat by the United States.

Some states are trying to strengthen security. However, experts have said that the main shortage in this field is money and expertise. This sector has more than 50,000 water offices, most of which are managed by local authorities, such as Aliquipa. Some of them are related to marginal places where residents have few facilities and where experts in cyber security issues are scarce. The person in charge of cyber attacks in the US federal government reported that there have been five cyber attacks on organizations related to water services in the last two years. The remote control device that was in charge of monitoring and regulating the water pressure in a pumping station was disabled. Fox News claims that water customers were not affected because the organization’s employees quickly set the water pressure control to manual mode after receiving the warning. But the problem is that not all water service departments have a support system for providing manual services.

American media have reported that several states, including New Jersey and Tennessee, have so far taken action due to the inaction of Congress in this regard. State laws have been passed to strengthen cyber security. Before 2021, the states of Indiana and Missouri passed similar laws. In 2021, California passed a law that mandated organizations responsible for cyber security to develop plans to improve the state of cyber security in the agriculture and water sectors.

In several states, including Pennsylvania and Maryland, laws to They didn’t get anywhere.

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