American Water, the largest water utility in US, is targeted by a cyberattack

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Business/AP

Published 4:22 AM EDT, Tue October 8, 2024


AP — The largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States announced Monday that it was the victim of a cyberattack, prompting the firm to pause billing to customers.

New Jersey-based American Water — which provides services to more than 14 million people in 14 states and on 18 military installations — said it became aware of the unauthorized activity on Thursday and immediately took protective steps, including shutting down certain systems.

The company does not believe its facilities or operations were impacted by the attack and said staffers were working “around the clock” to investigate the nature and scope of the attack.

The company said it has notified law enforcement and is cooperating with them. It also said customers will not face late charges while its systems are unavailable.



Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/08/business/american-water-cyberattack-hnk-intl/index.html

[underpants]

1. It was only a matter of time sadly.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. They have been warned for years

But the threat never ceases and "social engineering" (crafting emails or fake websites that fool and entice an employee to click on a link that delivers the payload) seems to be their best bet for "getting into" a system to wreck havoc.

[underpants]

4. Commonwealth of Virginia systems get hit every 3 seconds

Or it might be 3 times per second. A friend who works for the state told me they got an email from the Governor about diligence to security. The number was something like what I posted.

Neither one of us had any idea it was on that scale.

[ck4829]

3. Three guesses who was behind it and two of them don't count