Incident Awareness – Israeli Water Infrastructure Attack Disrupts Wastewater Treatment and Agricultural Systems

Throughout 2020, multiple attacks occurred against Israeli water infrastructure including what was believed to be large-scale cyber intrusion attempts at wastewater treatment plants, water pumping stations, sewers, and agricultural water pumps. The activity prompted a joint TLP:AMBER report from CISA and its partners (available to U.S. Members).

According to The Jerusalem Post, a similar series of attacks occurred over this past weekend. The attacks reportedly disrupted/disabled “several water monitors – which monitor irrigation systems and wastewater treatment systems” in Galilee. The National Cyber Organization had warned farmers in the region of the concern of a planned cyber attack “by anti-Israeli hackers throughout the month of Ramadan” potentially part of #OpIsrael. Additionally, multiple critical infrastructure attacks did occur throughout the week, including against Israeli media agencies, medical websites, government websites, and university websites.

As a result of the warning, some farmers “disconnected the remote control option for their irrigation systems and switched them to manual operation” to prevent harm. The report states that those who left their systems on remote control were the ones impacted by the attack.

While this attack appears to be ideologically motivated and geographically focused, it serves as a reminder of the vulnerability and exploitation of insecure internet-exposed water and wastewater control system assets. Read more at Hack Read.