Breaches and incidents

Two small private water utilities (Colorado): foreign actors alter equipment settings and pumping cycles

Governor Jared Polis’s spokeswoman said hackers “changed equipment settings, disabled remote access and alarms and altered pumping cycles at both...

What happened

Governor Jared Polis’s spokeswoman said hackers “changed equipment settings, disabled remote access and alarms and altered pumping cycles at both utilities” in late August; the utilities serve “fewer than 200 people” and “treatment processes and water quality were not impacted” (Denver7). SecurityWeek (21 Sep, citing the Denver Post) says the incidents were brief; Security Affairs notes the Denver Post statement URL is dated 18 Sep, while Denver7 places the disclosure on a Tuesday.
Root cause: not disclosed; SecurityWeek describes it as targeting OT systems.
The governor’s office said only “foreign actors” and “We cannot confirm what foreign actors may have been involved,” while noting CISA reports of “an Iranian-backed group”; whether these are part of the July multi-state water campaign is unconfirmed.
CDPHE confirmed each issue was resolved, offered technical assistance and contacted other water providers; the utilities are not named.