Michigan on Saturday joined Minnesota in reporting cyberattacks on nine of the state’s water systems, but an official maintained all systems were operating “safely,” as a report said US law enforcement was treating Iran as the main suspect in those attacks.

Earlier this week, authorities said cyberattacks targeted over 30 water systems in Minnesota. The source of the attacks is being investigated, but they came amid warnings that Iranian hackers have been focused on such systems, with The New York Times reporting that at least five other unidentified states have been targeted.

The reports in Michigan surfaced after the state received a federal cyber alert Tuesday about attempts to tamper with operational technology at water systems.

Soon after, the state received “a small number of reports from Michigan communities indicating activity consistent with what federal agencies described,” said Dale George, the director of communications at the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. He later said nine systems were impacted.

“All systems continued to operate safely, issues were addressed by local operators, and there are no known impacts that posed a public health concern,” George said in a statement.

The FBI, which is investigating, has not publicly identified a culprit and a spokesperson declined to say Thursday who the bureau thought might be responsible, though federal officials told the New York Times that Iran was the chief suspect, with Braham Mayor Nate George quoted as saying he was “pretty sure it’s Iranian actors” but was hesitant to say so publicly. The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other agencies warned in an advisory last week that Iranian hackers have been targeting water and wastewater systems and the operational........

© The Times of Israel