Description

A Russia-linked hacker group, known as the Cyber Army of Russia, has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on a water and wastewater treatment plant in Indiana. The group posted a video on its Telegram channel demonstrating their alleged interaction with the systems of the Tipton Wastewater Treatment Plant. While the group provided no further details about the hack, an Indiana official confirmed to CNN that the plant was indeed targeted in a cyberattack on Friday evening, prompting an investigation by plant managers. Jim Ankrum, the general manager of Tipton Municipal Utilities (TMU), stated that the facility was targeted but not compromised. He reassured that TMU experienced minimal disruption and remained operational throughout the incident. TMU operates four utilities serving the city of Tipton and surrounding areas with electric power, water, and wastewater collection and treatment. The investigation into the recent incident is ongoing, and details regarding how the hackers gained access to the plant's system and the extent of the damage remain unclear. This cyberattack comes shortly after the Google-owned security firm Mandiant released a report linking the Cyber Army of Russia to another Russian state actor, Sandworm. Mandiant's report suggested the group's involvement in an attack on a water facility in Texas in January, which resulted in a tank overflow. The Cyber Army of Russia, in response to Mandiant's report, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Indiana facility, announcing it as part of a series of attacks on U.S. infrastructure. According to Mandiant, the group, posing as a hacktivist collective, has close ties with Sandworm and often carries out distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against countries deemed unfriendly to Russia. The group's recent targets included an LGBTQ+ organization in Spain and Spanish banks and retail organizations.