By Randy DeSoto, The Western Journal
The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh, stated Saturday that one of their booster stations was hacked by an Iranian-backed cyber group.
Matthew Mottes, chairman of the board of directors for the Municipal Water Authority, told KDKA that the group known as Cyber Av3ngers took control of a pumping station, shutting it down.
Penn Live reported that afterwards a message appeared on the system’s control panel, reading, “You have been hacked. Down with Israel. Every equipment ‘made with Israel’ is Cyber Av3ngers legal target.”
So obviously the Iranians are trying to hurt Israel’s world renowned tech export market.
The system that was hacked utilizes Unitronics, which Mottes told KDKA includes software or components that are Israeli-developed.
“The system has since been disabled,” so the hackers cannot control it, KDKA reported.
Mottes emphasized that water safety was never compromised.
“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,” Mottes told the Beaver Countain. “This pump was on its own computer network, separated from our primary network, and is physically miles away.”
Mottes further explained the booster station did what it was supposed to do.
“It sent an alarm, and we took control manually. Nobody was ever at risk,” he said.
The Water Authority is currently in the midst of upgrading its water treatment plant, which dates back nearly 90 years.
Because of that, most of the processes for treating water are still done manually, Mottes said.
The Pennsylvania State Police have been called in to investigate the hack.
Democratic Congressman Chris Deluzio, whose district includes Aliquippa, posted on Facebook on Sunday: “I am closely monitoring this cyberattack on the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa.”