 |
| image generated via ChatGPT |
Iran-linked hackers target US water systems across at least twelve states, exposing years of cybersecurity neglect {NYT 5 August}
The EPA under President Biden sought to institute more stringent cybersecurity provisions, and Republican officials in numerous states blocked it from happening. Now cyberattacks on America’s water infrastructure are on the rise, and Iranian-affiliated hackers are suspected to be the culprits. FTA:
In 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration proposed creating stronger cybersecurity guidelines to better safeguard the nation’s water supply from hackers.
The steps were modest, but necessary, officials said at the time: Many municipalities lacked even basic protections, and the computers that monitor and adjust water quality, including chemical-treatment levels, were easy-to-find targets for a would-be intruder.
The E.P.A. rescinded the order, however, after Republican-led states and industry groups sued to block its enforcement. They argued that the E.P.A. lacked authority for the move and that smaller, underfunded utilities would struggle to adopt the new standards.
The episode is just one of several in recent years in which efforts to bolster the cyberdefenses of America’s water systems were blocked despite repeated attacks that highlighted vulnerabilities. Just a little more than a month after the E.P.A. proposal was killed, a small town in western Pennsylvania disclosed that a hacking group tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps briefly took control of equipment used to adjust water pressure.
Now federal and state officials are racing to address an alarming, widespread assault on the nation’s water supply that they believe is also probably the work of Iranian hackers.
Last week, at least seven states, including Minnesota and Michigan, reported incidents to the F.B.I., and in some cases the hacks — or the response to them — degraded water operations. The tally of states reporting possible attacks to the F.B.I. is now at least a dozen, according to people familiar with the investigation. The F.B.I. has not disclosed the states publicly, but some have come forward to confirm activity.
At least 100 municipalities have detected recent malicious hacking efforts related to their water systems, though some of those may be unrelated incidents, the people said. Some security experts said the number of vulnerable systems nationwide could be far higher.
What y’all voted for, #Murica. This is the price the former United States now pays for the mass belligerence and willful ignorance exhibited by the dominant white working class and the political party to which they have pledged their allegiance. These jerks will never take a look in the mirror; whatever calamity should arise, and under whatever administration it should occur, culpability shall invariably be assigned elsewhere. I am thoroughly sick of both this horrid state of affairs and those Americans who have brought it into being. A ‘national divorce’ grows more appealing with each passing day, for I do not want these individuals — and their orange s**tbag president — lording over the rest of us a moment longer. They are literally dismantling this country on all fronts, all the while brandishing the flag and styling themselves ‘patriots’. One way or the other, this must end.
🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈
