CISA says over 100 US water systems were targeted in July 2026 alone

Date:
Thu, 27 Aug 2026 13:20:00 +0000

Hackers are going for internet-connected PLCs, and CISA is urging agencies to take them off the public internet. CISA has warned of a significant
increase in cyberattacks targeting US water systems, urging organizations to implement mitigations, strengthen their security posture, and make sure
theyre resilient against these attempts.

CISA revealed it has seen hackers targeting more than 100 internet-exposed systems in the Water and Wastewater Systems (WWS) Sector, in July 2026 alone. These attacks see the threat actors targeting programmable logic controllers (PLC), industrial computers used to control physical processes such as regulating water pumps or valves, allowing operators to monitor and control machinery in critical infrastructure such as water and wastewater facilities, and by targeting them, the attackers can disrupt services and potentially
even create unsafe conditions for the citizens.

Blaming Iran -- In its writeup, CISA did not discuss who
the threat actors are or what they are trying to achieve.

In a report by The Register , however, it was said that the attacks were most likely done by a single threat actor, an Iranian state-sponsored group.

The publication also said that facilities in at least 12 US states were targeted, and that these attacks are merely testing the waters for a larger campaign that is being prepared.

This is all in the domain of speculation, however. Attribution is notoriously difficult and until it is confirmed, CISA is focused mostly on providing immediate assistance to the targets: CISA urges critical infrastructure owners, operators, and integrators to remove publicly exposed PLCs and other operational technology (OT) from the internet as soon as possible, the agency wrote.

Threat actors targeting exposed PLCs have modified passwords to lock out operators and disconnected the PLCs by changing their IP addresses. This activity has resulted in boil water notices and sustained manual operations.

Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/cisa-says-over-100-us-water-systems-wer e-targeted-in-july-2026-alone

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