Cyberattacks Disrupt Over 30 Minnesota Water Systems

State officials are investigating a series of cyber intrusions that affected more than 30 water systems in Minnesota on Sunday and Monday. Minnesota IT Services said no residents have reported service interruptions, though the city of Braham asked customers to limit use for a few hours while technicians assessed the outage. Plymouth officials reported that communications with their water infrastructure were restored by Tuesday afternoon and that the incident did not affect water levels or quality.

The FBI, which is also probing the attacks, has not publicly identified a suspect, and a bureau spokesperson declined to comment on possible perpetrators. Federal agencies, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, had warned the previous week that Iranian-linked hackers were targeting water and wastewater facilities.

Cynthia Kaiser, former deputy assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division and now senior vice president of Halcyon’s Ransomware Research Center, said the pattern of the attacks fits known Iranian tactics. > "I think most credible researchers and responders would be right to treat it like it’s Iran until proven otherwise," she said.

Investigators noted that most of the incidents involved remote monitoring and control technology used by the utilities. While the timing and methods show similarities, authorities have not yet determined whether a single actor was responsible for all the attacks.