JANESVILLE — In light of hacks to municipal water utilities in Minnesota and Michigan, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a warning to water systems statewide.
Janesville Water Utility Superintendent Craig Thiesenhusen told The 69ÂÜÀò Monday the potential threat was not news to him, as he first heard about the risks “two months ago.â€
However, there is always cause for vigilance, Thiesenhusen said.
“Utilities are always in the bullseye,†Thiesenhusen said. “Ever since 9/11 we’ve had to be on our guard.â€
Last week, more than 30 water systems in Minnesota were attacked. On July 24, the Minnesota attacks included the City of Plymouth with a population of about 80,000 and the City of Braham with a population of about 1,700. Both cities had their plants taken offline. Plymouth, just west of Minneapolis in the Twin Cities metro, had its plant back online by the afternoon of July 25. The plant in Braham, which is about 70 miles north of Minneapolis, was also back online by the afternoon of July 25. However, Braham residents were asked to minimize water use briefly as officials investigated why the plant was offline.
Neither city reported issues of concern after testing their drinking water.
Nine systems were affected in Michigan, said Dale George, communications director of the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. There were no known issues to any municipality’s water, George said.
The FBI has not confirmed the source of the attacks, but said last Thursday in a statement that it is investigating. The attacks came after warnings from the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that Iranian hackers have focused on hacking U.S. water utility systems.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued an alert July 28 saying it believed a cyber threat is “ongoing in Wisconsin and requires immediate action to prevent potentially serious impacts to our systems.†However, a DNR spokesperson said Monday Monday that the DNR is still trying to confirm any possible attacks or if there are any vulnerabilities.
“The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been coordinating our efforts with the Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center regarding this potential threat to water systems regarding this potential threat to water systems in Wisconsin,†a DNR spokesperson said via email. “As of July 28, WSIC had not yet confirmed that systems in Wisconsin have had connections but are concerned that they might be susceptible to connections from malicious cyber actors.â€
On July 22, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency updated a cybersecurity advisory regarding an ongoing attempt by cyber criminals to target industrial control systems, saying such actors may try to disable communication between individual systems in order to seize control and to create a total shutdown.
If cyberattacks drop pressures far enough, it could result in full-system shutdowns. For drinking water systems, it could create a suction effect that potentially allows unsafe contaminants to enter the systems.
Milton Waterworks Operator Noah Mielke was not available for immediate comment.