Romanian Water Authority Hit by Ransomware Attack, Critical Systems Disrupted

When starting a new week, it is very alarming to see reports that hackers attacked a country's water authority. This could be very frightening to almost all people of the nation. In Romania, one of the countries in Eastern Europe, the hackers executed a ransomware attack on the Romanian National Water Authority and compromised their computer systems used by their employees.

As terrible as this may seem. The positive aspect is that people were still able to receive clean drinking water and their regularly scheduled access to water services was unaffected.

The Attack Affected What Systems?​

The attack did not impact the water systems that provided clean water, but it did affect the computers and other systems. These systems were used internally by the staff at the Romanian National Water Authority.

These included:

• All computer systems in the offices and administrative buildings of the Romanian National Water Authority
• All software programs established for the management of water resources
• Internal messages sent between employees

Although people had water flowing, the attack introduced several difficulties for the employees of the Romanian National Water Authority.

My Concern​

• Water is a critical resource and when hackers attack water utilities, it raises a red flag.
• Water is something we rely heavily on so to think it could be threatened is alarming.

How Government Responded​

The government in Romania acted fast and within minutes of being affected by a cyber attack, the cause was being investigated. They immediately shut down affected systems - initiated an investigation - brought in cybersecurity experts.

In addition, they released a statement letting the public know there was no health risk to drinking water to help mitigate the impact of the cyber attack.

Conclusion​

Romania's water utility suffered a ransomware attack but the urgency to respond to the threat minimized the potential for additional negative effects. This demonstrates that proper cybersecurity practices can help protect basic utility services.