The Municipal Water Authority (MWA) of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, announced that one of the company’s booster states was hacked over the weekend by an Iranian-backed cyber group known as “Cyber Av3ngers.”
Cyber Av3ngers, a “sophisticated international hacking ring,” managed to take control of a water pump on a drinking water supply line, triggering an alarm as soon as the hackers entered the software.
Upon entering the system, the hackers displayed an image on the control panel reading: “You have been hacked. Down with Israel. Every equipment ‘made in Israel’ in Cyber Av3ngers legal target.”
The machine subject to the hack uses a system called “Unitronics,” which is software owned by the Israelis. The system has, however, since been disabled. Local authorities have announced their intention to open a criminal investigation into the matter.
“They did not get access to anything in our actual water treatment plant – or other parts of our system – other than a pump that regulates pressure to elevated areas of our system,” stated the chairman of the board of directors for the MWA, Matthew Mottes shortly after the incident occurred. “The booster station did what it was supposed to. It sent an alarm and we took control manually. Nobody was ever at risk,” Mottes added.
The hacking organization has claimed to be similarly responsible for several other international attackers over the past several months.