FBI: No evidence of water system hack destroying pump

Federal officials said there's no evidence to support a report that hackers destroyed a pump used by an Illinois-based water utility after gaining unauthorized access to the computer system it used to operate its machinery.

In an email sent on Tuesday afternoon to members of the Industrial Control Systems Joint Working Group, officials with the ICS-CERT, an offshoot of the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team, said investigators from the US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have been unable to confirm the claims, which were made in a November 10 report issued by the Illinois Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center, also known as the Fusion Center.

“After detailed analysis, DHS and the FBI have found no evidence of a cyber intrusion into the SCADA system of the Curran-Gardner Public Water District in Springfield, Illinois,” the email, which carries a subject of “UPDATE - Recent Incidents Impacting Two Water Utilities,” stated. “There is no evidence to support claims made in the initial Fusion Center report – which was based on raw, unconfirmed data and subsequently leaked to the media – that any credentials were stolen, or that the vendor was involved in any malicious activity that led to a pump failure at the water plant.”