Water system controllers don't belong on the internet, says ex-NSA chief after suspected Iran attacks
“These PLCs should not be connected to the internet.”In late July, the FBI said it was investigating attacks conducted by “malicious cyber actors” targeting operational technology devices, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Iran-linked crews have targeted these devices, which monitor sensor data like tank levels, and can turn pumps on and off, for years. “I'd be shocked if it's not Iran,” Halcyon Ransomware Research Center SVP Cynthia Kaiser told The Register at DEF CON on Friday.
- ▪“These PLCs should not be connected to the internet.”In late July, the FBI said it was investigating attacks conducted by “malicious cyber actors” targeting operational technology devices, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs).
- ▪Iran-linked crews have targeted these devices, which monitor sensor data like tank levels, and can turn pumps on and off, for years.
- ▪“I'd be shocked if it's not Iran,” Halcyon Ransomware Research Center SVP Cynthia Kaiser told The Register at DEF CON on Friday.
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| Original publisher | The Register |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/08/07/water-system-controllers-dont-belong-on-the-internet-says-ex-nsa-chief-after-suspected-iran-attacks/5285070 |
| Publication time | Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:53:10 +0200 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-08-07T20:20:47.495Z |
| Last seen | 2026-08-07T20:20:47.495Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | yNnW0nbYwgi9 · 1 stories |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
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| Indexing | May the item be indexed (stored, ranked, made findable)? | Allowed |
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| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
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Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
(function() { let windowUrl = window.location.href; windowUrl = windowUrl.substring(windowUrl.indexOf('?') + 1); let messageElement = document.querySelector('.shareableMessage'); if (windowUrl && windowUrl.includes('code') && windowUrl.includes('expires')) { messageElement.style.display = 'block'; } })(); Security Water system controllers don't belong on the internet, says ex-NSA chief after suspected Iran attacks Calling all defenders Jessica Lyons Jessica Lyons Cybersecurity Editor Published fri 7 Aug 2026 // 20:53 UTC With at least 12 US states’ water systems having been hacked - most likely by Iran - we have to get better at cyber defense, according to retired General and Ex-NSA chief Paul Nakasone, who was speaking to reporters at DEF CON.“We have to have higher standards,” Nakasone…
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