At least seven U.S. states have suffered cyberattacks on their water supply systems in recent days, in a series of sabotages that some analysts see as the long hand of Iran. President Donald Trump denied on Friday the possibility that the Islamic Republic, against which he has been at war for five months, was behind these events and instead blamed Democrat Tim Waltz, governor of Minnesota, the first state to report being affected. The problem is that the list of incidents keeps growing. The state of Michigan has also said its systems have been attacked. Despite widespread concern, no problems have yet been reported in either water quality or supply.
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The United States does not recall a similar situation. Officials from various municipalities and states in the country are on alert these days in case they detect any problems in the supply or in the computers they use to control and adjust water quality. Minnesota was the first state to report the attack, but in recent days others have been added, reaching seven.
So far there is no evidence pointing to any culprit. But analysts and security experts suggest that the origin could come from Iran, a country against which the United States has just escalated its military response after weeks of an unsuccessful ceasefire that has again led to an open war between the two countries and several of their allies.
Security experts cited by The New York Times recall that Iran has increased the level of its cyberattacks in the last five months, when the United States and Israel launched a military operation theoretically intended to last only a few days and which now drags on with no end in sight. These analysts recall that Tehran has previously carried out attacks of this nature and also insist that there does not seem to be any economic motive, as no one gains a clear benefit from these operations.
According to CBS, which cites FBI officials, agents are trying to find out if the author of the cyberattack might have tried to make it appear as if it was executed from Iran with the aim of inflaming tensions between the two countries.
Trump: “I wish Iran were that lucky”
Amid these concerns, Trump seems clear that it is all due to the alleged incompetence of Minnesota authorities. “We heard there was a cyberattack in Minnesota and they blame Iran. I don’t believe it. I think I would blame Minnesota, because they are tremendously incompetent,” he said on Friday at the start of a meeting with members of his Cabinet at the presidential residence of Camp David, in the state of Maryland.
“There was a cyberattack against 30 water treatment plants and I would blame Minnesota and its corrupt governor. He likes to say: ‘Oh, Iran! I wish Iran were that lucky. Iran has bigger problems to worry about than Minnesota,” the president added.
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