In late 2022, Microsoft detected the hack of a water system in Guam that U.S. intelligence agencies in the following months determined was orchestrated by China. The idea wasn’t new. The spy agencies had long watched as Iran targeted Israeli water systems. “That another nation state was doing it to us — that was unsettling,” recalled one former U.S. official, who, like several others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. Senior U.S. officials were concerned that such intrusions could affect military bases on Guam, but also civilian water supplies, many of which were poorly protected against hacks. The Biden administration, alarmed by the spring 2021 ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline, had already moved to regulate pipelines and then railroads.

Full report : Water systems are ripe for cyberattacks, experts warn after suspected Iranian hacks.