Georgia and Michigan have reported cyberattacks on water treatment systems, bringing the total number of states affected to at least seven, according to an FBI advisory.
Georgia and Michigan have reported cyberattacks on water treatment systems, bringing the total number of states affected to at least seven, according to an FBI advisory. The FBI said it has observed activity targeting Rockwell Automation/Allen‑Bradley programmable logic controllers, though it has not officially attributed the campaign to any group. Nine Michigan water systems notified the state's Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy of hostile activity. Georgia confirmed it was also affected, though officials said the damage was limited and no operational disruption occurred. State communications director Dale George said all systems continued to operate safely and there were no public health concerns. Minnesota was the first state to confirm attacks on more than 30 community water systems that took place on July 26‑27, and it has not yet publicly identified a perpetrator. The FBI advisory noted that the activity has degraded water operations in some cases, and a CISA advisory warned that Schneider Electric, Siemens and other PLC brands were also being targeted by Iran‑affiliated actors. Security researcher Tenable publicly linked the activity to the IRGC‑linked CyberAv3ngers group, citing similarities with previous attacks. President Trump rejected the Iran hypothesis, stating he did not believe an Iranian cyberattack occurred and instead blamed Minnesota's governor, calling the governor 'grossly incompetent.' Governor Tim Walz responded that Iran was behind the attacks and said Trump's administration's funding cuts left water facilities more vulnerable. DOGE reduced CISA resources, and Minnesota officials said experts identified the vulnerability quickly and worked with local communities to stop it.
- Publisher
- theregister
- Reliability
- high
- Published
- 8/4/2026, 10:00:15 AM
- Retrieved
- 8/4/2026, 10:00:15 AM
- Relevance
- 80%
- Confidence
- 85%

