Missouri & Illinois Communities Water Provider Systems Hacked

It's not unusual for a computer system to be compromised these days, but it's especially alarming when it affects something as vital as water. That's exactly what's happened to a provider for numerous Missouri and Illinois communities whose systems have been hacked.

CBS News is reporting that American Water Works computer systems have been taken down by a third-party digital invader. There's a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing what they know right now. The report says that American Water Works learned of "unauthorized activity within its computer networks and systems" on Thursday, October 3 and immediately shut their systems down and executed their incident protocols which included bringing in cybersecurity experts to assist with "containment and mitigation activities and to investigate the nature and scope of the incident".

As of this writing, they do not believe that their actual water systems have been affected by the intrusion, but they also disclosed that they may not know the full impact of this cyberattack for some time.

The CBS News report says that American Water Works serves 14 million customers in 14 states including Missouri and Illinois with both waste water and also drinking water. As of right now, only the billing systems appear to be in trouble. Let's hope this doesn't ever reach the level of shutting down their water production abilities.