After Cyberattack on U.S. Water Systems, Israel’s Cyber Directorate Says Iran Has Targeted It, Too

Federal law-enforcement authorities in the United States, including the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), have launched a broad investigation in recent days following a large-scale cyberattack that struck the operating systems of water and sewage facilities in at least seven states across the country, including Minnesota and Michigan. Alongside the American investigation, Israel is also closely monitoring developments. The National Cyber Directorate said it is in ongoing contact with officials in Washington to draw lessons from the incident and strengthen protections for Israel’s water infrastructure.

According to a CBS report, the attack targeted industrial controllers (PLCs) used to operate water systems. As a result, dozens of local authorities were forced to immediately switch to manually operating pumps and water towers, in an effort to prevent disruptions to the public water supply and ensure that essential systems continued functioning.

At this stage, U.S. officials believe the attack was carried out by hackers linked to Iran, operating in a pattern similar to attacks attributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2023. However, investigators are not ruling out other possibilities and are also examining a scenario in which a third party tried to "impersonate" Iran in order to escalate tensions and mislead investigators about the attackers’ identity.

The National Cyber Directorate said it is maintaining ongoing cooperation with its American partners in order to quickly understand the characteristics of the incident and assess its implications for local preparedness.

The directorate stressed that the threat to Israel’s water infrastructure is not new: "The State of Israel experiences cyberattacks across all sectors on a daily basis, and has faced numerous attempted Iranian cyberattacks against Israel’s water sector in recent years."

It further clarified that all attempted attacks targeting Israel’s water sector have been successfully thwarted and did not cause significant damage to infrastructure. Still, following information received from the United States, active measures are currently being carried out with all water authorities in Israel to strengthen resilience, deepen preparedness, and implement advanced protective measures against future cyber threats.