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At least 12 states report cyberattacks on water systems possibly linked to Iran-backed hackers, sources say
CBS News ^ | August 5, 2026 | Nicole Sganga

Posted on 08/06/2026 6:53:01 AM PDT by Twotone

Cyberattacks on U.S. water systems that officials suspect may be linked to Iran-backed hackers have been reported in at least a dozen states, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Wednesday.

Those states include Michigan, Minnesota, Georgia, New Jersey and South Dakota. In Minnesota specifically, more than 30 community water systems were impacted, CBS News previously learned.

In Georgia, the Clayton County Water Authority, which serves 300,000 customers in the Atlanta area, said cyber activity last month caused a water pressure drop and forced the agency to issue a boil water advisory. Service was restored within hours, however.

Some utilities have lost critical remote-control capabilities, forcing operators to switch to manual mode. In several cases, the hackers gained remote access to pumps, valves and water pressure.

So far, according to officials, the cyberattacks have had no impact on drinking water, which has remained safe.

On July 30, the FBI, Environmental Protection Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency all warned that cyber threat actors had remotely accessed online infrastructure for water and wastewater systems in at least seven states, "resulting in a loss of monitoring and control functionality."

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Iran; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cyberattacks; hackers; watersystems
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1 posted on 08/06/2026 6:53:01 AM PDT by Twotone
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To: Twotone

Why exactly are these systems even accessible to the net?


2 posted on 08/06/2026 6:55:08 AM PDT by Skwor
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To: T.B. Yoits
From the article: ...possibly linked to Iran-backed hackers...

Yeah, just like the "Russian" election hackers who turned out not to be Russian at all.

3 posted on 08/06/2026 7:01:48 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: Skwor

My question also. I believe there are some power plants that are also vulnerable. This is pure negligence.


4 posted on 08/06/2026 7:07:22 AM PDT by Omnivore-Dan (have to )
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To: Omnivore-Dan

Nuclear Power plants have been air gapped for a long time; this became a big modification after the Iran centrifuge event.


5 posted on 08/06/2026 7:11:05 AM PDT by Skwor
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To: Twotone

All leftists commie muzzie states? NO coincidence. Probably getting help from Muslims working in the plants. Additional sabotage planned after the hacks to cause long term damage.

Would t drink the water there,muzzies pissi g and pooping I. The water after it’s cleaned probably.


6 posted on 08/06/2026 7:16:29 AM PDT by CircleCityHamburgerMan (Death to demons)
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To: Twotone

So, what are the 12 States?


7 posted on 08/06/2026 7:17:12 AM PDT by deweyfrank (Nobody's Perfect )
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To: Twotone

Impossible. We have very good talks.


8 posted on 08/06/2026 7:24:31 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.)
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To: Skwor

Probably because they use computers running Microsoft Windows


9 posted on 08/06/2026 7:30:58 AM PDT by motor_racer (Who will bell the cat?)
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To: Skwor

You beat me to it, I wonder why also.

Once upon a time I was a water treatment and distribution systems operator licensed by the state and worked on a major water system.

Nothing was digitized or even remotely available on the internet. All systems were manually checked and adjusted twice a day.

There’s no sane reason why any of this needs to be on the internet or an intranet for that matter. Maybe it’s so the un-needed goons in middle management can have fancy info boards on their walls or at their computers.


10 posted on 08/06/2026 8:18:53 AM PDT by redfreedom (The Forth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: Skwor

Because the brilliant suits on mahogany row decided to have the SCADA networks hooked into the “Enterprise”.


11 posted on 08/06/2026 8:26:07 AM PDT by sauropod (Make sure Satan has to climb over a lot of Scripture to get to you. John MacArthur Ne supra crepidam)
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To: redfreedom

Nuclear Power was going down that literal path, mid-level managers and Execs wanted their fancy indicators and tracking tools on the walls, so a lot of data feeds were connected to corporate offices, useless vanity displays honestly. Not to mention technically incompetent business suits calling up and asking stupid questions on why something is what it is because they have no technical literacy, just a display on the wall looking different today

Iran and the exploding centrifuges happened, and we had to go back and remove all that connectivity and air gap everything.

A project I was truly happy to support!


12 posted on 08/06/2026 8:26:56 AM PDT by Skwor
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To: sauropod

LMAO read my post 12, exactly!!


13 posted on 08/06/2026 8:27:27 AM PDT by Skwor
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To: Twotone

I won’t click into CBS, but I scanned the whole excerpt and there’s not one of the usual “Let’s Hate Trump” line!


14 posted on 08/06/2026 8:27:30 AM PDT by libertylover (The HBM (Has Been Media) is almost all AGENDA-DRIVEN and HATE-DRIVEN, not-truth driven)
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To: Skwor
Why exactly are these systems even accessible to the net?

My guess is that are all are subscribers to a single service commercial product provider and on a hub..

15 posted on 08/06/2026 8:45:35 AM PDT by pfflier
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To: Skwor

Why? Because the utilities lack the sense of a turnip. They install complex computer systems at the actual plants. Then, while running complex plants that break just ‘cause things break; they act like PC garbage cannot break so they have no one on site to twiddle with it when a blue screen of death pops up.
What do they, the managers who bought complex computer systems without budgeting for 24/7 service, do when something goes bad? Why, they call their patched on service provider — who is a fat arsed WWW troll living in his Gran’s basement to “dial in” and fix shitte.
Going this route guarantees that their complex utility system is connected to the WWW — which is the most asinine/lazy thing any company can do. If a IT troll at one time on your payroll can dialin so can some terrorist.


16 posted on 08/06/2026 9:15:04 AM PDT by bobbo666
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To: Twotone

It’s China.


17 posted on 08/06/2026 9:36:23 AM PDT by Fledermaus (Sen. John Thune is a bigger enemy to the GOP than any Democrat.)
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To: Skwor

Because it’s sexy to have the IoT in literally everything.

Everyone forgets that millennials are in often in charge of these things, and we wonder why everything has gone to shit in the last 10 years, especially cars


18 posted on 08/06/2026 9:47:23 AM PDT by SPDSHDW (A sinner saved by Jesus)
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