Cyberattack disables water controllers in Israel
A cyber attack has shut down around 10 water controllers in agricultural areas in Israel, temporarily halting the irrigation systems of the affected farms on Sunday, 10 April 2023.
A cyberattack has shut down 10 water controllers in agricultural areas in Israel, temporarily halting the irrigation systems of the affected farms on Sunday, 10 April 2023.
Israel’s National Cyber Directorate and the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed the attack in a statement while no details on the nature of the attack or the identity of the perpetrators have yet been released by the Israeli authorities. Farmers have been instructed to take basic and immediate measures to secure the systems and to irrigate manually. According to the statement, irrigation will continue as normal and technical experts will work with farmers to restore the controllers.
For water utilities, cyberattacks can cause serious drought, water pollution and even public health risks. In addition, the Israel Postal Company was also affected by a cyberattack on 5 April, which resulted in the unavailability of some services, including the ability to send mail abroad.
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