At the Arkanzas City water treatment station in Kansas, a Cyberattack was recently recorded, forcing local authorities to transfer the station management to manual regime. The incident occurred on the morning of September 22 and was promptly reported to the relevant services. Currently, the investigation involves employees of the Ministry of Internal Security and FBR.
The city manager, Randy Fraser, assured that the city’s water supply system is operating normally with no threats to water safety. Measures to switch to manual management were implemented as a preventive measure to avoid any potential failures at the station.
Cybersecurity experts are actively working to eliminate the consequences of the attack and restore automatic control. Authorities have implemented enhanced protection measures, ensuring that there will be no changes in the quality or availability of water supply.
However, some townspeople experienced temporary problems with water pumps, leading to reduced water pressure in certain areas of the city last weekend.
Notably, the Cyberattack occurred just two days after a warning issued by the Non-Profit Organization Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Waterisac), highlighting potential cyber threats to water systems. Additionally, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had published recommendations the day before to strengthen the cybersecurity of water and waste systems, urging operators to take additional security measures to prevent attacks.
In the past, the US water supply sector has been targeted by cyber attacks, including those from hacker groups associated with Iran and China. Previous incidents have resulted in disruptions to water supply systems in several American states, emphasizing the importance of cybersecurity measures in critical infrastructure.