Pennsylvania lawmakers urge investigation after water system hacked by anti-Israel activists
Eden Villalovas
Video Embed
Three Pennsylvania lawmakers are pushing for a federal investigation into how foreign hackers breached a water system near Pittsburgh and caused the nation’s top cybersecurity agency to warn other water treatment utilities of vulnerabilities.
Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland this week urging action after the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa was compromised on Nov. 24.
FOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM DESANTIS-NEWSOM DEBATE: ‘LION’S DEN’
“Any attack on our nation’s critical infrastructure is unacceptable,” the lawmakers wrote in Thursday’s letter. “If a hack like this can happen here in western Pennsylvania, it can happen anywhere else in the United States.”
Federal authorities told Casey’s office they think the operation was conducted by Cyber Av3ngers, an Iranian-linked cyber group looking to disrupt Israeli-made technology in the United States. Check Point Software, an American-Israeli leading cyber security company, identified Cyber Av3ngers as an “Iranian government-affiliated hacktivist group” focused on Israeli targets of “critical infrastructure in areas of electricity, transportation and water supply.”
The group left a message on a video screen of the piece of technology that monitors water pressure. It said, “You’ve been hacked” and “down with Israel.” The message said the device was targeted because some of its components were manufactured in Israel.
“Every equipment ‘made in Israel’ is Cyber Av3ngers legal target,” the screen displayed.
The targeted equipment was made by Unitronitics, a technology company from Israel. On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Cyber Av3ngers claimed responsibility for hacking 10 water treatment stations.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Aliquippa Water Authority maintained service after shutting down the automated system and working on operations manually. The attack alarmed security officials, prompting an investigation from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the offices of Fetterman, Casey, and Deluzio for additional information about the letter.