PLCs Targeted in Water and Wastewater Facilities Attacks in Israel

September 30, 2022

INCIDENT

The Israeli government revealed that wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations and sewage facilities across the country were targeted in a coordinated attack on April 24 and 25. Sources told SecurityWeek that the attackers targeted programmable logic controllers (PLCs) used to control valves. The changes made to the PLC logic were valid, which indicates that the attackers knew exactly what they were doing. The attack may have been discovered after the compromised PLCs caused suspicious valve changes, but it’s unclear if the attackers were trying to cause damage by tampering with valves or if they made an error that led to their discovery.

Incident Date

April 24, 2020

Location

Israel

Estimated Cost

unknown

Type of Malware

No Malware identified

Threat Source

No threat source identified