Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa hacked by Iranian-backed cyber group

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

Updated on: November 25, 2023 / 11:31 PM EST


ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (KDKA) - The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa said on Saturday that one of their booster stations had been hacked by an Iranian-backed cyber group.

Matthew Mottes, the chairman of the board of directors for the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, confirmed to KDKA-TV that the cyber group, known as Cyber Av3ngers, took control of one of the stations. An alarm went off as soon as the hack had occurred.


Submitted / Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa


Mottes added that the station, located on the outskirts of town, monitors and regulates pressure for Raccoon and Potter Townships and stressed that there is no known risk to the drinking water or water supply.

The machine that was hacked uses a system called Unitronics, which Mottes says is software or has components that are Israeli-owned.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/municipal-water-authority-of-aliquippa-hacked-iranian-backed-cyber-group/

[Wingus Dingus]

1. I consider that to lean more toward terrorism than hacking.

Fucking with the controls of our water supply isn't "hacking".

[EllieBC]

2. Haven't you heard?

It’s perfectly acceptable in the name of “resistance” and “protest.”

[EndlessWire]

3. Act of War?

Pretty odd that they would advertise who did it. Not much other than the system had been disabled and that the water itself was safe. The hacked software regulated water pressure.

What is the law regarding hacking our utilities? If this group is effectively hooked up with Iran, then impute the intent on to Iran. It makes no difference that they targeted Israeli software. It is located here.

Is this group designated a terrorist group? Two can play this game...thanks for showing us where we need to harden up our software.

[Delphinus]

4. This is rather worrisome

Back when the orange menace was "president" a whole lot of things got hacked - they had a name for it which I cannot remember, but it showed we were very vulnerable.

This kind of thing is terrorism in my way of thinking - just like if we had a group of proud boys or some domestic terrorist group here messing with the utilities.

[GB_RN]

6. Yup...

And Putin’s Puppet did precisely fuck all about any of it, whether it was the Iranians or, the Chinese. It was a guarantee that if the Russians and their infamous Internet Research Agency, GRU or FSB were involved, Dolt45 would sweep it under the rug and if push came to shove, he’d just say, “Putin denies it and I believe him.”

[GB_RN]

5. It's Time To Return The Favor...

To that whacky old man in a turban, the Ayatollah. Hack the shit out of everything he touches. Bank accounts, state security shit, his troll farms, their “Revolutionary Guard”, or whatever we can get into except civilian infrastructure. Otherwise, I say make the Ayatollah feel the electronic pain.

[Kennah]

7. Could this be a false flag operation?

Like the Russians? Enemy of my enemy is said to be a friend, but it can also be a convenient fall guy to distract. Contribute to more focus on the Middle East and less focus on Ukraine.

[Deep State Witch]

9. Iranian Hackers

Are quite capable on their own of getting into SCADA systems like water supplies, etc. They may have gotten information from the Russians on how to do it, but the IRGC hackers are pretty darn good.

[FBaggins]

11. Iranian proxies have made dozens of actual attacks on US facilities

We’ve moved a carrier group into the gulf.

I don’t think endangering the water pressure in a small municipality is going add much incentive to strike.

[Kennah]

16. Spook Americans in order to cause them to press for a bombing of Iran?

[FBaggins]

17. That was implied in calling it a "false flag" operation

The question you haven’t answered is why Russia would think that a minor impact on the water pressure of a tiny suburb would cause us to want to attack when things like ballistic missile attacks on US forces didn’t?

[Kennah]

18. Have you met Americans? Or 'Muricans?

[oldsoftie]

8. We had perfectly fine operational water systems BEFORE the internet. Disconnect!

Why do things like this need to be connected to the outside NOW? So many things we see getting hacked existed & functioned long before the internet; fuel supply lines, hospitals, water systems, schools, etc etc. WHY does EVERYTHING have to be connected to the entire world? We have water system employees; they dont need internet connections, Some of these things are national security items.
Guess I'm just too old to "understand"

[Deep State Witch]

10. Sensors

What used to be done by people is now done by sensors. Water pressure drops, water main breaks, etc. are caught a lot more quickly with sensors. However, this comes with a cost - it is possible to hack what's called SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems. Especially if one can get into a specific component like an Israeli-made router.

[oldsoftie]

12. But cant that system stay "in-house"?

If an alarm goes off then someone somewhere (if no one is onsite) gets notified, via phone like alarms USED to work?
It just seems that the hackers are always going to find a way, so we just go back to what worked before & exclude their opportunities.

[Deep State Witch]

14. It should

Yes, it should. But, for smaller municipalities, it's probably cheaper to have it go over the Internet than in a dedicated network.

Nobody ever thinks about security until it's too late.

[Kennah]

20. I'm sure the words have been uttered ...

... "Who would hack a water utility? We're fine with Windows 95 [or something similarly insecure]."

[Kennah]

19. My guess is easy of use

As an IT nerd, I've been using notifications in code, including Mainframe COBOL, since the 1990s. I would send myself emails or pager alerts when things complete or break. Also, remove access since that time to work from home and/or check things after hours, so I don't have to stay there physically.

Probably aren't coders writing code at a water utility, but I'm betting they remotely monitor things so techs can be at the beach or wherever and still monitor things.

[oldsoftie]

21. You're prob right. We're gonna have to make a decision; convenience or security.

Right now I dont think these types of systems can have both at the same time. And if someone figures out how to freeze a water system I'd bet its not too far a jump to crashing the electrical grid.
Our infrastructure security is woefully underfunded IMO

[Historic NY]

13. It sounds more like someone in moms basement .

[FakeNoose]

15. I'm going to agree with you on that one

This sounds really skeevy and amateurish.

Mainly because Aliquippa is this tiny little town (actually a suburb of Pittsburgh) in Beaver County. There's no strategic value to this hack, there's no political value, and Aliquippa doesn't have any money to ransom their software.

[Deminpenn]

22. Story from the local newspaper

https://www.timesonline.com/story/news/local/2023/11/27/federal-state-investigators-probing-aliquippa-water-authority-hack/71720634007/

Cyber Av3ngers took responsibility for the Saturday attack, targeting a system made by Israeli company Unitronics. The group has claimed responsibility for similar attacks globally, recently at nearly a dozen water treatment stations in Israel.