Michigan joins Minnesota in reporting cyberattacks, with FBI investigating
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- Michigan reported cyberattacks on nine water systems, joining Minnesota, which earlier reported breaches at 30 sites; the FBI said at least seven states reported incidents but only the two have been identified.
- The FBI and CISA warned last week that Iranian hackers are targeting water and wastewater systems and critical infrastructure controls, and federal law enforcement has previously indicted Iranian hackers for similar targeting.
- Michigan's water systems continued operating safely after the state received a federal cyber alert Tuesday about tampering attempts on operational technology, per the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
- Minnesota IT Services said most confirmed attacks involved remote-monitoring and control technology, with no active requests for residents to modify water usage as of Thursday.
- President Trump dismissed Iranian involvement when asked about the Minnesota attacks, saying "I don't think there was an Iranian cyberattack" and instead criticizing the state's Democratic government.
- Governor Tim Walz asserted Iran was responsible and blamed Trump-era federal employee cuts for making the US more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Why it matters: Local water plants are generally more vulnerable than other infrastructure because they are more likely to have out-of-date cybersecurity, and federal law enforcement has previously indicted Iranian hackers for targeting US water systems — making the FBI's attribution a national-security priority even though all affected systems reportedly kept operating safely.
