US agencies warn Siemens devices under active attack amid suspected Iranian targeting of water plants
By AJ Vicens
Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. federal agencies warned Wednesday that an active hacking campaign is targeting Siemens programmable logic controllers used across American water systems and other critical industries, a disclosure that lands as authorities investigate a recent wave of intrusions at local utilities that has been linked by some cybersecurity analysts to Iran.
The joint advisory from the National Security Agency, FBI, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency describes an active threat to all Siemens S7 Series PLCs. The devices are central to operations in manufacturing, energy, water and wastewater, chemical, food and agriculture sectors, and are widely deployed across the country's industrial control network.
According to the advisory, the attackers are using artificial intelligence to speed up the development of exploits, sharply lowering the technical skill and time needed to break into the systems. The government warning lists potential consequences if the devices are compromised: disruption of critical processes, safety failures, downtime, equipment damage, exposure of sensitive data, regulatory violations, and cascading impacts through interconnected infrastructure.
The warning follows recent cyber incidents at water utilities in multiple states. In November 2023, Iranian government-linked hackers were publicly blamed for a breach at a Pennsylvania water authority that involved an Israeli-made PLC, and security researchers have since documented a broader pattern of Iranian interest in U.S. water-sector targets. While the latest advisory does not explicitly attribute the Siemens hacking to Iran, the timing has intensified concerns among utility operators and federal officials who have long warned that aging industrial control systems are a vulnerable frontier.
Siemens did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by AJ Vicens in Detroit; editing by Chris Sanders)