Hackers targeting water systems in N.J. and across the U.S. "know what they are doing," Rep. Josh Gottheimer warns
A string of cyberattacks on water systems across the nation, including in New Jersey, has put many local towns on edge.
Hackers committing these types of acts is not a new concept, but Rep. Josh Gottheimer says AI is making it easier for bad actors to target small towns.
"This isn't some kid in the basement messing around in their boxer shorts. These are adversaries that we're facing. They know what they are doing," Gottheimer said Wednesday.
Gottheimer and officials monitoring threat levels link the recent cyberattacks to Iranian-backed hackers who also targeted water systems last month in South Jersey's Cape May and Woodbine.
"What they were able to do is disable the monitoring and management systems they relied on to measure tank levels, pressure, and all those other things," said Michael Geraghty, director of the NJ Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell.
Officials, however, say water operations or safety in those municipalities were not affected.
"The water operators there caught it immediately and responded immediately to start using manual systems," Geraghty said.
Bills designed to protect local water systems on the way
Gottheimer said the attacks are a wake-up call. The Democrat is introducing bipartisan legislation in the next couple of weeks to help small and midsized towns get free access to AI models to secure their water systems.
He said he also wants the feds to step in.
"[I'm] demanding they immediately surge incident response teams' technical assistance to every water and wastewater utility hit by this latest campaign, including here in New Jersey," Gottheimer said.
Officials in Park Ridge say Gottheimer's proposals would help towns like theirs, but added they're already taking extreme measures.
"We also make sure the systems for some of the valves really don't have access to the internet, so you can't get to it from the internet," Councilman Michael Mintz said.
As for the costs of protecting our water supply, there's currently a bill in the state Legislature to help towns get more funding.
