US warns Iranian terrorist crew broke into 'multiple' US water facilities

Iran-linked cyber thugs have exploited Israeli-made programmable logic controllers (PLCs) used in "multiple" water systems and other operational technology environments at facilities across the US, according to multiple law enforcement agencies . In a take-out-the-trash-time release on Friday night security advisory, the FBI, National Security Agency (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plus the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) warned that CyberAv3ngers, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated group, has been "actively targeting and compromising" Unitronics Vision Series PLCs, since at least November 22. The US designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019. But the gang did not need sophisticated tactics to run this attack: the joint advisory suggests Cyberav3ngers likely broke into US-based water facilities by using default passwords for internet-accessible PLCs. The alert was issued just days after CISA said it was investigating a cyberattack against a Pennsylvania water authority by the IRGC-backed crew, which forced operators to switch a pumping station to manual control. The compromised system at the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa displayed a warning that the intruders would be targeting Israeli-made gear because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. And it turns out that Aliquippa wasn’t the only entity under attack. "We are tracking, at this time, a small numbe...