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American Water Faces Cybersecurity Incident
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- American Water announced a cybersecurity incident affecting its operations.
- The company serves over 14 million customers across 14 states.
- American Water reassured customers about no late charges during system outages.
American Water, the largest regulated water and wastewater utility in the United States, made headlines following the announcement of a cybersecurity incident. The Camden, NJ-based company revealed the breach on Monday, just days after detecting suspicious activities and promptly notifying law enforcement, as reported by VICE .
The company, which serves over 14 million customers across 14 states and 18 military installations, became aware of unauthorized access last week . In response, it took immediate protective measures, including shutting down specific systems to safeguard its data.
In the regulatory filing, American Water stated that the full extent of the breach remains unclear, acknowledging that they are “currently unable to predict the full impact of this incident,” as noted by VICE.
The decision to disable customer systems was made to protect sensitive data, although the company cautioned that it is too early to determine if any customer information has been compromised, as reported by CNBC .
American Water does not believe that its facilities or operational capabilities were compromised in the attack. The company emphasized that its staff is working around the clock to ascertain the nature and extent of the incident, noted Fortune .
Additionally, they have been in contact with law enforcement and are cooperating fully with ongoing investigations. Customers can rest assured that no late charges will be incurred while the company’s systems remain unavailable, Fortune reports.
Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warned about the increasing frequency of cyberattacks targeting water utilities in the U.S. and called for immediate measures to protect the nation’s drinking water supplies.
According to the EPA, 70% of the inspected water systems did not meet the requirements outlined in the Safe Drinking Water Act.
While the EPA did not provide specific figures, it indicated that many systems exhibit “alarming cybersecurity vulnerabilities,” including unupdated default passwords, vulnerable single-login setups, and access retained by former employees, CNBC reported.
An American Water spokesperson declined to comment beyond the information provided in the official security statement, CNBC reported.
Image by Geancarlo Peruzzolo, from Pexels
Brazil Lifts X Ban Following Musk’s Compliance With Court Demands
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- Brazil’s Supreme Court authorized X’s return after months of suspension.
- Musk agreed to comply after facing fines and legal threats targeting X and Starlink.
- The contested accounts belonged mostly to Bolsonaro supporters questioning the 2022 election results.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has authorized the return of X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, after the company complied with demands from the country’s top court, as reported by Bloomberg . The platform had been suspended for months after Musk refused to follow Brazilian regulations.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes stated in an order issued Tuesday that the company had met all the requirements necessary for the immediate return of activities in Brazil, bringing an end to the suspension.
The months-long standoff between Musk and Moraes had escalated when the judge blocked X in late August after Musk defied local regulations by shutting down the platform’s Brazil office and refusing to remove certain user accounts.
The closure of the Brazil office was in response to orders to take down profiles that allegedly posed a threat to the country’s democracy. After Musk’s refusal, the court imposed the ban. In the following weeks, Moraes targeted Musk’s other businesses, including satellite-internet provider Starlink, with fines and legal threats.
In September, X briefly went back online after the platform switched to Cloudflare as its cloud service provider. According to Cloudflare’s CEO, X avoided the ban by “coincidence,” but that coincidence ended up costing Musk almost $2 million, as noted by TechCrunch .
In late September, Musk reversed his position, agreeing to comply with the court’s demands, as noted by Bloomberg. The platform appointed legal representation in Brazil and took down the contested accounts, which mostly belonged to supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who had questioned the results of his 2022 election loss.
Musk’s shift came after Brazil’s Supreme Court threatened daily fines of 5 million reais ($903,000) and levied significant penalties on X for temporarily bypassing the ban. Brazil withdrew 18.35 million reais from local bank accounts of X and Starlink to cover fines, as reported by Bloomberg.
Musk had previously accused Moraes of attempting to censor conservative voices, but the judge argued that the court’s actions were necessary to curb hate speech and misinformation that could undermine Brazil’s democratic institutions.
