Coordinated OT cyberattacks hit 30+ Minnesota water utilities, briefly disrupting one plant. Backup procedures prevented major water service impacts.

Minnesota just had its own live-fire lesson in what happens when someone targets water utilities at scale. Between Sunday and Monday, July 26 and 27, a coordinated cyberattack hit operational technology (OT) systems at more than 30 community water utilities across the state, according to Minnesota IT Services (MNIT).

“A coordinated cyberattack targeted operational technology at more than 30 Minnesota community water systems on July 26 and 27. Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) immediately activated the state’s cybersecurity incident response capabilities.” reads the statement published by MNIT. “MNIT continues to collaborate with federal, state, local, Tribal, and private-sector partners to investigate the attack, support affected communities, and strengthen the security of Minnesota’s critical infrastructure.”

The agency activated its statewide incident response the moment it learned of the attack, and it’s still active as of this week.

Four cities went public with details: Braham, Maple Plain, Plymouth, and South St. Paul. Braham took the hardest hit of the group; the town of about 1,700 people had its water plant knocked offline entirely after attackers disabled the computerized controls running its well and treatment systems.

Crews had the plant back up within roughly two hours, filtering and treating water normally again.

Plymouth got off comparatively easy. The city’s IT team disconnected the cellular-connected equipment at two of its water towers as a precaution, and the issue stayed contained to that cellular-connected equipment, according to the city’s own statement. Most of the affected utilities across the state kept running through backup procedures without ever going offline.

Minnesota IT Services is continuing to investigate the coordinated cyberattack against the state’s water utilities while helping affected operators contain the incident, assess the damage, and restore impacted systems. The agency is sharing threat intelligence and response guidance in coordination with state and federal partners, including the FBI, CISA, the EPA, the Minnesota Department of Health, and local utilities. Authorities are still analyzing the scope of the attack, but there is currently no indication that drinking water safety has been compromised, and no Minnesota community has been advised to change its water use.

MNIT’s chief information security officer, John Israel, put out a statement framing the response as proof the state’s investment in cybersecurity partnerships actually paid off.

“Cyberattacks against critical infrastructure require a coordinated, whole-of-government response,” said Israel. “MNIT is working side by side with our partners to share intelligence, support affected communities, and help utilities restore operations safely while strengthening defenses against future attacks. This incident demonstrates why Minnesota has invested in strong cybersecurity capabilities and partnerships. Our response worked as intended, enabling agencies at every level of government to rapidly coordinate, contain the incident, and help prevent more serious impacts to critical services.”

Partners include a mix of state, local, federal, and Tribal entities now working the case together. That list includes Minnesota’s Department of Health, its Bureau of Criminal Apprehension fusion center, CISA, the EPA, and the FBI, all working alongside the affected utilities directly.

The attack has yet to be attributed, and the investigation is still ongoing. The timing lines up close enough with something else to raise an eyebrow, though: four days earlier, CISA and six other federal agencies had updated a warning about Iranian-affiliated hackers exploiting internet-facing programmable logic controllers made by Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, and Siemens, across US water and energy infrastructure broadly. Nobody’s confirmed a link between that advisory and what happened in Minnesota, and it would be premature to draw a straight line between the two just because they landed in the same week.

Minnesota’s health department says it hasn’t seen any city ask residents to change how they use their tap water, which is the detail worth holding onto here. Contingency plans, backup procedures, and manual overrides did what they’re supposed to do at a majority of the affected utilities: nothing dramatic happened, because the boring stuff worked. Sometimes the best cybersecurity story is the one where nobody outside the IT department even noticed.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, water utilities)

US agencies warn Iran-linked actors are targeting internet-exposed water and energy control systems, risking disruption.

Federal agencies updated their cybersecurity advisory this week: Iran-linked actors are inside American water and energy control systems, and they’re not just looking around. They’re changing things.

The updated advisory from CISA, the FBI, NSA, and the Department of Energy says these actors are getting into programmable logic controllers, the small industrial computers that run pumps, valves, and safety alarms. Once inside, they can mess with what operators see on their screens. That’s how you get outages nobody saw coming.

“The authoring agencies urgently warn U.S. organizations of ongoing Iranian-affiliated cyber targeting of internet-connected operational technology (OT) devices, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs).” reads the advisory. “These actions disrupted PLCs across several U.S. critical infrastructure sectors through malicious project file interactions and manipulation of data on human machine interface (HMI) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) displays, resulting in operational disruption and financial loss.”

This isn’t new territory. Back in April, the same agencies flagged Iranian hackers going after Rockwell Automation controllers specifically. The updated advisory widens the net. Now Schneider Electric and Siemens equipment is on the list too.

US agencies have expanded guidance on detecting malicious code changes in PLCs after observing attacks targeting Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Siemens, and other internet-exposed industrial controllers.

Attackers access exposed devices via OT ports (44818, 2222, 102, 502) and modems over SSH (port 22), then exfiltrate PLC project files using vendor tools such as Studio 5000, EcoStruxure Control Expert, and TIA Portal. They modify or delete project logic, including Add-On Instructions (AOIs), manipulate HMI and SCADA displays, and disable shutdown and alarm functions, allowing industrial systems to enter unsafe states without alerting operators.

Organizations should follow vendor security best practices, remove PLCs from direct internet access using secure gateways and firewalls, and monitor logs for indicators of compromise and suspicious traffic on OT ports such as 44818, 2222, 102, and 502. Rockwell users should set controllers to Run mode, while suspected victims should contact vendors and federal agencies.

The agencies say potentially any internet-exposed industrial control system could be a target. Here’s the part that should make plant operators lose some sleep. In one case, the hackers didn’t just peek at a system. They rewrote the controller’s programming logic to disable the processes meant to trigger shutdowns and alarms during dangerous conditions.

“At one U.S. victim, the FBI observed the APT actors download a malicious project file to a targeted PLC using configuration software. Analysis indicated the project file retained ladder logic for downstream function but added logic that overrode specific instruction sets responsible for maintaining safe operating parameters in the victim’s environment.

“Since at least March 2026, the authoring agencies identified (through engagements with victim organizations) an Iranian-affiliated APT group disrupted the function of PLCs.” states the advisory. “Organizations across several U.S. critical infrastructure sectors (including Government Services and Facilities, WWS, and Energy Sectors) deployed these PLCs within a wide variety of industrial automation processes. Some of the victims experienced operational disruption and financial loss.”

Systems could then drift into unsafe territory with nobody watching the warning lights, because the warning lights had been switched off from the inside.

“After the actors extracted device project files, the FBI and CISA identified the modification and deletion of project file logic, to include Add-On Instructions (AOIs) and data manipulation on HMI and SCADA displays [T1565].” continues the advisory.” Additionally, the changes disabled critical shutdown and alarm logic, allowing systems to enter unsafe conditions without notifying operators of the anomalies.”

The advisory ties the activity to the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US and Israel, framing it as an effort to cause disruption inside the United States. It fits a pattern going back to February, when the war started and Iranian-linked hacking picked up sharply across the region.

Not all of it looks like this. Some of it has been standard espionage and embarrassment campaigns, like the leak of FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email account. Some of it has been genuinely destructive. The Iranian group known as Handala remotely wiped tens of thousands of employee devices at medical device maker Stryker, and separately claimed a breach at California’s Cal Water, saying it could disrupt the water supply. Cal Water pushed back, saying it found no sign anyone had touched its operational networks.

That’s the pattern worth watching: espionage on one track, disruption on another, and now a wider set of manufacturers exposed on the operational technology side. If your PLC talks to the internet, it’s not a bystander anymore.

Nobody wants their water plant’s alarm system to be the one thing an adversary quietly switches off. Time to check who can actually reach those controllers from outside.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Iran-Linked Actors)

Tata Electronics confirmed a data breach after hackers claimed to steal 630GB of data, including alleged Apple supplier and Tesla documents.

Tata Electronics, a major supplier to Apple and Tesla, has confirmed a cybersecurity breach weeks after stolen data was advertised on a hacker forum.

Tata Electronics confirmed a cyberattack affected parts of its IT infrastructure but said the incident did not disrupt operations or manufacturing.

“A few weeks ago, Tata Electronics identified a cybersecurity incident on some of our systems,” a Tata Electronics spokesperson told BleepingComputer. “Our response protocols were deployed immediately, and the incident has had no impact on our operations across businesses, which remain unaffected.”

The company did not disclose what data was compromised, whether the number of impacted customers.

The World Leaks threat group claims to possess more than 630GB of information spanning over 204,300 files. A sample reviewed by TechCrunch reportedly contained Apple supplier specifications and Tesla manufacturing documents, although the authenticity, origin, and completeness of the leaked data have not been independently verified.

Tata Electronics is an Indian electronics and semiconductor manufacturer within the Tata Group. The company produces precision components, assembles Apple products, and supplies technology for global customers, including Apple and Tesla. It is a key player in India’s strategy to expand domestic electronics and chip manufacturing.

Reuters reported that Tata Electronics notified some iPhone assembly employees about a data breach, while Apple is investigating the incident and a ransom demand was made to the company.

“Tata informed some employees at its iPhone assembly operations last week of the data breach, said a second industry source familiar with the matter.” reads the article by Reuters.”Tata currently accounts for roughly a ​third of Apple’s iPhone production in India, with Foxconn making up the rest.”

WorldLeaks is an extortion-focused cybercrime group that steals company data to pressure victims into paying, threatening public leaks if they refuse. The group emerged in 2025 after rebranding from Hunters International, a ransomware gang active since 2023. Following increased law-enforcement pressure, it abandoned file encryption and shifted entirely to data theft and extortion, claiming hundreds of victims to date.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, CVE-2026-8932)