The largest regulated water and wastewater utility in the United States announced Monday that it was the victim of a cyberattack that prompted the company to pause customer billing.
New Jersey-based American Water — which provides services to more than 14 million people in 14 states and at 18 military installations — said Thursday it was aware of the unauthorized activity and was taking immediate protective action, including shutting down certain systems .
The company does not believe its facilities or operations were affected by the attack, and said staffers were working “around the clock” to investigate the nature and extent of the attack.
The company says it has notified police and is cooperating with them. The company also said customers will not be hit with late fees while the systems are unavailable.
Earlier this year, a June cyber attack on CDK Globala company that provides software to manage sales disrupted business at 15,000 car dealerships, forcing some to close as operations ground to a halt. In February one attack on Change Healthcarea subsidiary of UnitedHealth, left patients unable to get prescriptions while hospitals and pharmacies went unpaid for more than a week.
According to its website, American Water operates more than 500 water and wastewater systems in approximately 1,700 communities in California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
