Concerned about recent cyberattacks on water systems in drought-stricken areas of the western United States, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on how to prevent future hacks.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, and Rep. Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican, said in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that the water system in Muleshoe, Texas, would have to start in January. We requested an explanation and response regarding the cyber attack that occurred.
The hack caused a small Texas town’s water system to flood, with tens of thousands of gallons of water spilling out of the town’s water tower within two hours.
The attack was one of three attacks on small rural towns in the Texas Panhandle linked to Russian hacktivist groups.
Rural Texas town reports water facility flooding due to cyber attack
Muleshoe, Texas’ water system was attacked by Russian hackers in January, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of water from the water tower. (Google Maps)
Hale Center City Manager Mike Seipert said there were about 37,000 login attempts to the city’s firewall over a four-day period. Ultimately, the hacking attempt failed, as the city “powered down” the system and took manual control.
But in Muleshoe, a city of about 5,000 people, hackers overflowed the system, which was then shut down and taken over manually by city officials.
In a letter to Mayorkas, the lawmakers said the cybersecurity firm Mandiant attributed the attack to a sandworm believed to be linked to the Russian spy agency GRU.
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Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on April 28 in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In 2018, Sandworm began hacking into the South Korean Olympics and Ukraine’s power grid.
Another group associated with Sandworm, Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, claimed responsibility for the Texas hack, the lawmakers wrote.
“Water utilities continue to be the core of our nation’s critical infrastructure, and our nation’s water resources face many limitations,” Gallego and Fallon said. “If a hack similar to the Texas incident were to occur in Arizona or any other state that may lack adequate water supplies, it could disrupt operations across the region and have a potentially devastating impact.” There is.”
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Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego (left) and Texas Republican Rep. Pat Fallon request a briefing from Alejandro Mayorkas on what is being done to protect America’s water systems from hacking. did. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images / Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images – Fallon)
They added that losing tens of thousands of gallons of water, as happened in Muleshoe in January, could have a “devastating impact” on rural communities across the country.
The two senators sent a list of questions to Mayorkas about what actions the department is taking to respond to the hacking of the water system in Maruishu, which disrupted the nation’s water utilities and other critical infrastructure. We asked what measures the ministry is taking to protect against this and what lessons the ministry has learned. learned from past hacks, pointing to last year’s attack on a Pennsylvania water authority by a cyber group linked to the Iranian regime.
The letter is the second time since last December that Gallego has asked Mayorkas to explain DHS, which protects America’s water utilities and other critical infrastructure from enemy interference.
Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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In March, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sent a letter to governors across the country asking them to take steps to protect their water supplies, including assessing cybersecurity and planning for cyberattacks. We requested that the following measures be taken. .
Regan and Sullivan said, “Drinking water and wastewater systems are critical infrastructure sectors of lifelines and therefore attractive targets for cyberattacks, but they lack the resources and technology to implement rigorous cybersecurity practices. There is often a lack of competency.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
