Ripple effect: Local agencies ramp up security after state, national cyberattacks on water supplies | News, Sports, Jobs
Razor wire tops the fence around the Altoona Water Authority Lake Altoona pump station along Veterans Memorial Highway in Logan Township.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Late last year, the public water system in Aliquippa was one of several across the U.S. that was attacked by Iran-affiliated hackers, who hit Israeli-made computer equipment used to control water system operations.
At the time, officials with the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa said the cyber group, known as Cyber Av3ngers, took control of one of their booster stations. An alarm went off as soon as the hack occurred, officials said.
The Aliquippa authority shut down its automated system and went to manual operations, maintaining service without interruption, it was reported.
That attack and others on critical infrastructure systems has led the federal government to develop a playbook to guard against the ever-increasing sophistication of hackers.
It’s a case of constant vigilance that includes common-sense “cyber 101” efforts, like creating strong passwords, firewalls and multi-factor authentication, according to David Hozza, assistant teaching professor for cybersecurity at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences & Technology.
A warning sign is posted on the gate at the Altoona Water Authority’s Mill Run Reservoir.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
The need for such precautions “is not going to go away any time soon,” said Aaron Moyer, the Altoona Water Authority’s IT services coordinator.
‘Zero trust model’
The Altoona Water Authority “ramped things up,” starting about three years ago, after an incident in Florida that “was an eye-opener for everybody,” Moyer said some months ago.
The Florida incident involved hackers breaking into a system and attempting to increase the feed rate for a chemical, Hozza said, adding that an operator recognized the anomaly and shut the system down, preventing potential harm.
Since then, the Altoona authority has adopted a “zero trust model,” Moyer said.
That is an IT security regimen that requires strict identity verification for every person and device that tries to access resources, according to an online definition.
If the…
