Largest US Water Company Faces Cybersecurity Incident

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – American Water, the largest water and sewage utility company in the US, has paused billing amid an ongoing “cybersecurity incident” it announced on Monday October 8.

Based in Camden, New Jersey, American Water serves 14 million people, managing more than 500 water and wastewater systems in some 1,700 communities in California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

The company announced it had become aware of “unauthorized activity” on its computer network on October 3, which subsequently caused it to shut down some of its systems as a protective measure to ensure the continued supply of services, Reuters reports.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the incident is ongoing. “Water services have been unaffected as protections remained in place Wednesday,” AP said.

The company has notified law enforcement and is working with them to resolve the issue, CNN reported.

“Although the details of the breach were not disclosed, organizations in the U.S. and abroad have struggled for years to defend against and contain incursions by ransom-seeking cybercriminals, who regularly hack into groups’ computers and encrypt the data to extort vast sums of money in cryptocurrency payments,” Reuters noted in its report.

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