Bipartisan lawmakers seek answers from Mayorkas after Russian cyberattacks on water systems in US

Lawmakers from different sides of nan aisle concerned astir caller cyberattacks connected h2o systems successful drought-stricken areas of nan occidental U.S. are seeking answers from nan Department of Homeland Security (DHS) connected really hacks are going to beryllium prevented successful nan future.

In a missive to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Reps. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Pat Fallon, R-Texas, called for a briefing and answers regarding nan January cyberattack launched against nan h2o strategy successful Muleshoe, Texas.

The hack caused nan mini Texas town’s h2o strategy to overflow, and wrong 2 hours, sent tens of thousands of gallons of h2o flowing retired of nan town’s h2o tower.

The onslaught was 1 of 3 connected mini towns successful nan agrarian Texas Panhandle and has been linked to a Russian hacktivist group.

RURAL TEXAS TOWNS REPORT CYBERATTACKS THAT CAUSED ONE WATER SYSTEM TO OVERFLOW

The h2o strategy successful Muleshoe, Texas, was attacked by Russian hackers successful January, sending tens of thousands of gallons flowing retired of a h2o tower. (Google Maps)

According to Mike Cypert, nan metropolis head of Hale Center, location were astir 37,000 attempts successful 4 days to log into nan city’s firewall. Ultimately, nan attempted hack grounded arsenic nan metropolis "unplugged" nan strategy and operated it manually.

But successful Muleshoe, which has a organization of astir 5,000 people, hackers caused nan strategy to overflow earlier it was unopen down and taken complete manually by metropolis officials.

In nan missive to Mayorkas, nan legislators said nan cybersecurity patient Mandiant attributed nan onslaught to Sandworm, which is believed to beryllium connected to Russia’s spy agency, nan GRU.

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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies earlier nan House Judiciary Committee, connected Capitol Hill, April 28, successful Washington, D.C.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In 2018, Sandworm launched hacks against nan Olympic Games successful South Korea, and connected Ukraine’s electrical grid.

Another group connected to Sandworm, nan Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, claimed work for nan hack successful Texas, nan lawmakers wrote.

"Water accommodation proceed to beryllium cardinal to our nation’s captious infrastructure, and our h2o resources look galore limitations," Gallego and Fallon said. "Should a hack akin to nan Texas incident hap successful Arizona aliases different states that whitethorn deficiency capable h2o supply, it could disrupt operations crossed nan region pinch devastating effects."

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Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., left, and Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, requested a briefing pinch Alejandro Mayorkas regarding what is being done to protect U.S. h2o systems from being hacked. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images / Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images - Fallon)

They added that losing tens of thousands of gallons of water, for illustration Muleshoe did successful January, could person "devastating impacts" connected agrarian communities crossed nan country.

The 2 lawmakers sent a database of questions to Mayorkas, asking what actions his section is taking to respond to nan hack against Muleshoe’s h2o system; what steps he is taking to protect nan nation’s h2o accommodation and different captious infrastructure from disruption; and what lessons his section has learned from erstwhile hacks, pointing to an incident past twelvemonth erstwhile an Iranian regime-linked cyber group conducted a hack against a h2o authority successful Pennsylvania.

The missive marks nan 2nd clip since December of past twelvemonth that Gallego has requested a briefing from Mayorkas astir DHS protection of U.S. h2o accommodation and different captious infrastructure from adversary disruption.

Fox News Digital reached retired to DHS for remark and did not instantly perceive back.

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In March, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan and Jake Sullivan, adjunct to nan president for National Security Affairs, sent a missive to nan nation’s governors asking them to return steps to protect nan h2o supply, including assessing cybersecurity and readying for a cyberattack.

"Drinking h2o and wastewater systems are an charismatic target for cyberattacks because they are a lifeline captious infrastructure assemblage but often deficiency nan resources and method capacity to adopt rigorous cybersecurity practices," Regan and Sullivan wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.