America's largest water and wastewater utility dealing with cyberattack
American Water said customers won't face late charges or disconnected service while its payment portal is offline
The largest water and wastewater utility in the U.S. on Monday announced that it was hit by a cyberattack that has disrupted customers' access to its billing and payment platform.
American Water, which is based in Camden, New Jersey, and operates water and wastewater services in about 1,700 communities in 14 states as well as at 18 U.S. military installations, says on its website that it is the largest water utility in the U.S. and serves more than 14 million people.
It said in a release that it detected "unauthorized activity" in its computer networks and systems on Thursday and deactivated its systems to protect data and prevent further harm.
"American Water recently learned of unauthorized activity in our computer networks and systems which we determined to be the result of a cybersecurity incident," the company said. "As part of our response, we proactively took our customer portal service, MyWater, offline, which means we are pausing billing until further notice. We are working diligently to bring our systems back online safely and securely."
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American Water's network was impacted by a cyberattack. (Annette Riedl/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"Our dedicated team of professionals are working around the clock to investigate the nature and scope of the incident. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this incident may cause and we are working diligently to remediate and to bring these systems back online in a safe and secure manner," American Water added.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWK | AMERICAN WATER WORKS CO. INC. | 136.67 | +2.44 | +1.82% |
The company said it activated its incident response protocols and has brought in third-party cybersecurity professionals to "assist with containment, mitigation and an investigation into the scope and nature of the incident."
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Earlier this year, the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency warned states about cyberattacks on water utilities after an attack by a Iran-linked group on a water facility in Pennsylvania. (Photo Illustration by Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
American Water added that it notified law enforcement and is "coordinating fully with them" in response to the cyber incident.
The company said on its website that it doesn't believe any of its water or wastewater facilities or operations have been negatively affected by the incident, and that the water is safe to drink.
American Water said that its water is safe to drink despite the cyberattack. (iStock / iStock)
Customers won't face late charges or have services shut off while American Water's MyWater billing portal is offline.
American Water manages over 500 water and wastewater systems around the country that treat and deliver over one billion gallons of water per day.
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States where American Water operates include its home state of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, California and Hawaii.