PA Senators Call For Federal Probe Of Water Authority Cyberattack

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pennsylvania's two senators and a congressman are calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to probe this week's cyberattack on a Beaver County water authority.

Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman, along with U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, have sent a letter to Attorney General Merle Garland asking him to fully investigate the cyberattack on the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa.

An Iranian-backed hacker group claimed responsibility for the cybercrime, stating they were able to hack into the Israeli-made components in the water system that serves thousands of households in Western Pennsylvania. No authority customers lost service during the incident.

“Any attack on our nation’s critical infrastructure is unacceptable,” the letter states.

“If a hack like this can happen here in Western Pennsylvania, it can happen elsewhere in the United States. Folks in Pennsylvania and across the country deserve peace of mind that basic infrastructure such as their drinking water is safe from nation-state adversaries and terrorist organizations."

The lawmakers also urged Garland to aggressively prosecute the attackers. They noted that there is a history in the Western Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney's office of prosecuting cybercrimes involving foreign adversaries such as Chinese military officers and Russian-linked cybercriminals.