PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Several civilian infrastructure operations were attacked by Iranian-affiliated hackers, including a water treatment facility outside of Pittsburgh.
The incident left multiple organizations breached in the United States by Iran-affiliated hackers, prompting a warning from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Wes Kelly is the President of Morefield Communications in Camp Hill and says the hackers behind the attack were not targeting the plant specifically.
"They were looking to do reputational damage to that manufacturer or company," Kelly said. "And that was a reason for that attack, which is unusual."
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a warning that the “hacktivists” were targeting Israeli-made systems across multiple states.
A message came across the programmable logic controllers (PLC) made by Israeli company Unitronics saying, "Down with Israel."
While nothing serious occurred, Kelly says it could have caused many disruptions.
“Think if it was something more critical, it was impacting supply, was able to shut off water supply to those areas and the trickledown effect," he said. "That can cause harm to individuals in the community.”
Though you’re not likely to hire a firm for your personal cybersecurity, Kelly says there are steps you can take to protect yourself.
One of the easiest ways to protect yourself is by using complex passwords with numbers, upper and lowercase letters and special characters. Kelly also argues that turning on multi-factor authentication can help.
“Last but not least, don't use the same passwords for your different apps and websites. Use different passwords for all those," Kelly stated.
According to Kelly, being precautious is the best way to prevent attacks.
“I think having a plan [and] people in place [helps]. [It could start with] doing the training with your employees, making sure that they're aware of what the risks are on an ongoing basis [and] continuing to educate employees so that they're aware that they don't fall for some of these attacks," Kelly expressed.
Both U.S. Senators from Pennsylvania John Fetterman and Bob Casey have asked the Department of Justice to investigate the waste water system hack.