Water Supplier American Water Works Says Hackers Breached System

American Water Works Co. Inc., which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people, said hackers had breached its computer networks and systems. 

The New Jersey-based company has disconnected or deactivated some systems in an effort to contain the cyberattack and is investigating the nature and scope of the breach, which was discovered on Oct. 3. The company said in a regulatory filing Monday that it currently doesn’t believe water or wastewater operations have been affected, but noted that it can’t yet predict the full impact of the incident.

Cybersecurity

US government officials and cybersecurity researchers have been warning in recent months that hackers are increasingly targeting water infrastructure. Earlier this year, the US accused the state-sponsored Chinese hacking campaign known as Volt Typhoon of infiltrating some of the country’s water facilities, among other things. The Biden administratio urged states to be on guard for cyberattacks against water systems, citing ongoing threats from groups linked to the governments of Iran and China.   

American Water Works said in the filing that it doesn’t expect the cyberattack to have a material effect on the company or its finances.

The US has accused China-linked hackers of infiltrating networks that operate critical US services. The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday that an attack tied to the Chinese government penetrated the networks of some US broadband providers, citing people familiar with the matter.