US government says Iran-linked hackers are disrupting American water and energy providers

The U.S. government has issued a warning stating that Iranian state-sponsored hacking groups are actively infiltrating and causing disruptions to industrial control systems operated by American water and energy providers. This latest alert from federal agencies indicates that breaches have already led to operational disturbances within these critical infrastructures.

The advisory, jointly released Wednesday by the FBI, NSA, Department of Energy, and CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency), details that Iranian hackers are targeting programmable logic controllers (PLCs) within internet-connected operational networks. These controllers allow the hackers to manipulate displayed data, resulting in outages and interference with provider operations.

Iranian hackers were first identified earlier this year as targeting controllers manufactured by Rockwell. The updated government alert expands the types of industrial control systems (ICS) under attack to also include products from Schneider Electric. While authorities have not yet detailed the full scope of the attacks or specific damage, they emphasize the need for heightened vigilance and enhanced security protocols.

This development follows earlier government warnings, issued months prior, about an escalation in Iranian actors' attempts to disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure. The current advisory underscores that the threat remains active and requires ongoing mitigation efforts.