Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Trump Fires IRS Commissioner, Bessent Named Acting Head

16 hours ago

University of California Reviews US Government’s $1 Billion UCLA Settlement Offer

16 hours ago

Kounalakis Exits California Governor’s Race, Will Run for State Treasurer

18 hours ago

National Weather Service to Restore Hundreds of Jobs Cut Under Trump

19 hours ago

Wall Street Gains as Trump’s Interim Fed Choice Stokes Dovish Bets

22 hours ago

US, Russia Plan Truce Deal That Would Cement Putin’s Gains in Ukraine, Bloomberg Reports

22 hours ago

Visalia Roadwork to Close Giddings Street Through December

22 hours ago

Trump Asks US Supreme Court to Lift Limits on Immigration Raids

2 days ago
Breaches by Iran-Affiliated Hackers Spanned Multiple U.S. States, Federal Agencies Say
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
December 4, 2023

Share

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A small western Pennsylvania water authority was just one of multiple organizations breached in the United States by Iran-affiliated hackers who targeted a specific industrial control device because it is Israeli-made, U.S. and Israeli authorities say.

“The victims span multiple U.S. states,” the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, as well as Israel’s National Cyber Directorate said in an advisory emailed to The Associated Press late Friday.

They did not say how many organizations were hacked or otherwise describe them.

Matthew Mottes, the chairman of the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, which discovered it had been hacked on Nov. 25, said Thursday that federal officials had told him the same group also breached four other utilities and an aquarium.

Cybersecurity experts say that while there is no evidence of Iranian involvement in the Oct. 7 attack into Israel by Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza they expected state-backed Iranian hackers and pro-Palestinian hacktivists to step up cyberattacks on Israeli and its allies in its aftermath. And indeed that has happened.

The multiagency advisory explained what CISA had not when it confirmed the Pennsylvania hack on Wednesday — that other industries outside water and water-treatment facilities use the same equipment — Vision Series programmable logic controllers made by Unitronics — and were also potentially vulnerable.

Those industries include “energy, food and beverage manufacturing and healthcare,” the advisory says. The devices regulate processes including pressure, temperature and fluid flow.

The Aliquippa hack promoted workers to temporarily halt pumping in a remote station that regulates water pressure for two nearby towns, leading crews to switch to manual operation. The hackers left a digital calling card on the compromised device saying all Israeli-made equipment is “a legal target.”

The multiagency advisory said it was not known if the hackers had tried to penetrate deeper into breached networks. The access they did get enabled “more profound cyber physical effects on processes and equipment,” it said.

Hackers Affiliated With Revolutionary Guards

The advisory says the hackers, who call themselves “Cyber Av3ngers,” are affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which the U.S. designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019. The group targeted the Unitronics devices at least since Nov. 22, it said.

An online search Saturday with the Shodan service identified more than 200 such internet-connected devices in the U.S. and more than 1,700 globally.

The advisory notes that Unitronics devices ship with a default password, a practice experts discourage as it makes them more vulnerable to hacking. Best practices call for devices to require a unique password to be created out of the box. It says the hackers likely accessed affected devices by “exploiting cybersecurity weaknesses, including poor password security and exposure to the internet.”

Experts say many water utilities have paid insufficient attention to cybersecurity.

In response to the Aliquippa hack, three Pennsylvania congressmen asked the U.S. Justice Department in a letter to investigate. Americans must know their drinking water and other basic infrastructure is safe from “nation-state adversaries and terrorist organizations,” U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio said. Cyber Av3ngers claimed in an Oct. 30 social media post to have hacked 10 water treatment stations in Israel, though it is not clear if they shut down any equipment.

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the group has expanded and accelerated targeting Israeli critical infrastructure, said Check Point’s Sergey Shykevich. Iran and Israel were engaged in low-level cyberconflict prior to the Oct. 7. Unitronics has not responded to the AP queries about the hacks.

The attack came less than a month after a federal appeals court decision prompted the EPA to rescind a rule that would have obliged U.S public water systems to include cybersecurity testing in their regular federally mandated audits. The rollback was triggered by a federal appeals court decision in a case brought by Missouri, Arkansas and Iowa, and joined by a water utility trade group.

The Biden administration has been trying to shore up cybersecurity of critical infrastructure — more than 80% of which is privately owned — and has imposed regulations on sectors including electric utilities, gas pipelines and nuclear facilities. But many experts complain that too many vital industries are permitted to self-regulate.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Madera County’s Former Sheriff-Turned-Top Exec Jay Varney Ready to Retire

DON'T MISS

California Antisemitism Bill Sparks Clash Between Jewish Groups and Educators

DON'T MISS

Rivian Opens EV Dealership, Service Center in Fresno. First for Central Valley

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires IRS Commissioner, Bessent Named Acting Head

DON'T MISS

University of California Reviews US Government’s $1 Billion UCLA Settlement Offer

DON'T MISS

Trump Officials Will Not Face Contempt Over Venezuela Deportations, Appeals Court Rules

DON'T MISS

Kounalakis Exits California Governor’s Race, Will Run for State Treasurer

DON'T MISS

Fresno Homicide Victim’s Mother Makes Powerful Statement in Court

DON'T MISS

Legal Hold Means CA Gunowners Still Need Background Checks for Ammo

DON'T MISS

National Weather Service to Restore Hundreds of Jobs Cut Under Trump

UP NEXT

Where the Redistricting Wars Might Go After Texas

UP NEXT

Israel Faces Backlash at Home and Abroad Over Gaza War Escalation Plan

UP NEXT

Wall Street Gains as Trump’s Interim Fed Choice Stokes Dovish Bets

UP NEXT

US, Russia Plan Truce Deal That Would Cement Putin’s Gains in Ukraine, Bloomberg Reports

UP NEXT

US Issues New Iran-Related Sanctions, Treasury Says

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Says He Wants Israel to Take Control of All of Gaza

UP NEXT

She Survived a 9-Story Fall After a Russian Missile Hit Her Building

UP NEXT

FBI to Track Down Texas Democrats Who Fled Over Redistrict Vote, US Senator Says

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Order Requiring Universities Disclose Admissions Data on Race

UP NEXT

Nearly 12,000 Children Under Five in Gaza Have Acute Malnutrition, Says WHO

Trump Fires IRS Commissioner, Bessent Named Acting Head

16 hours ago

University of California Reviews US Government’s $1 Billion UCLA Settlement Offer

16 hours ago

Trump Officials Will Not Face Contempt Over Venezuela Deportations, Appeals Court Rules

16 hours ago

Kounalakis Exits California Governor’s Race, Will Run for State Treasurer

18 hours ago

Fresno Homicide Victim’s Mother Makes Powerful Statement in Court

19 hours ago

Legal Hold Means CA Gunowners Still Need Background Checks for Ammo

19 hours ago

National Weather Service to Restore Hundreds of Jobs Cut Under Trump

19 hours ago

Trump Administration Eyes Military Action Against Some Cartels

19 hours ago

Where the Redistricting Wars Might Go After Texas

21 hours ago

Donald Trump and John Roberts Have a Lot in Common

21 hours ago

Madera County’s Former Sheriff-Turned-Top Exec Jay Varney Ready to Retire

The Madera County man whose public service spanned three states and four decades, eventually landing him as the county’s administrativ...

13 hours ago

Jim Varney retiring from madera County
13 hours ago

Madera County’s Former Sheriff-Turned-Top Exec Jay Varney Ready to Retire

14 hours ago

California Antisemitism Bill Sparks Clash Between Jewish Groups and Educators

Rivian service center
15 hours ago

Rivian Opens EV Dealership, Service Center in Fresno. First for Central Valley

16 hours ago

Trump Fires IRS Commissioner, Bessent Named Acting Head

16 hours ago

University of California Reviews US Government’s $1 Billion UCLA Settlement Offer

16 hours ago

Trump Officials Will Not Face Contempt Over Venezuela Deportations, Appeals Court Rules

18 hours ago

Kounalakis Exits California Governor’s Race, Will Run for State Treasurer

19 hours ago

Fresno Homicide Victim’s Mother Makes Powerful Statement in Court

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend