Foreign hackers breach two more US water utilities, threaten safety of Colorado residents

Foreign actors hacked two Colorado water utilities' computer systems last month, changing pumping cycles, disabling alarms and altering equipment settings before operators regained control, state officials said Thursday.

The intrusions did not affect drinking water quality or treatment processes, according to Colorado Gov.

Jared Polis' office.

But the incidents add Colorado to a widening series of breaches on U.S. water and wastewater infrastructure.

High-profile cyberattacks have targeted more than 100 drinking water and wastewater systems across 12 states this year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, expanding the footprint of a threat that federal authorities warned this summer was disrupting water operations across the country.

WATER CYBERATTACK HITS AT LEAST 7 STATES Colorado officials have not identified the actors behind the intrusions of the two small systems or said whether they are connected to the broader activity reported elsewhere in the country.

"These were brief incidents, and the risks were quickly addressed by the providers themselves, who subsequently alerted the state," Polis spokeswoman Eric Maruyama said in a statement.

The hackers altered equipment settings, disabled remote access and alarms and changed pumping cycles, according to the governor's office.

The incidents demonstrate how hackers can reach beyond traditional computer networks and gain access to operational technology used to control physical equipment at water facilities, including pumps, valves and other machinery.

The water utility systems that were impacted provide drinking water to approximately 400 people.

IRANIAN HACKERS ATTACKED OUR WATER SYSTEMS.

HERE ARE 5 THINGS OUR LEADERS NEED TO DO NOW Federal authorities warned in July that malicious cyber actors were targeting internet-connected operational technology at water and wastewater utilities .

At the time, the FBI and EPA said utilities in at least seven states had reported incidents, some of which degraded water operations.

The agencies said attackers had remotely accessed internet-facing programmable logic controllers, or PLCs, and tampered with device configurations, in some cases causing utilities to lose monitoring or control capabilities.