A new federal cybersecurity warning is putting America’s water systems and other critical infrastructure under an uncomfortable spotlight.
Five federal agencies have issued an urgent warning about an active cyber threat targeting Siemens S7 Series programmable logic controllers (PLCs) — industrial computers that help operate equipment in water and wastewater facilities, energy systems, manufacturing plants, chemical facilities and other essential operations.
The warning is especially concerning because federal officials say attackers are using artificial intelligence-generated exploitation scripts disguised as legitimate monitoring tools. The technology could allow hostile actors to conduct reconnaissance and develop attack capabilities much faster than in previous years.
