Arkansas City, Kansas water plant switches to manual after cyberattack
- Organization
- City of Arkansas City, Kansas
- Exploit
- Hacking
- Industry
- Government
The city of Arkansas City in southern Kansas reported a cybersecurity incident at its water treatment facility on September 22, 2024. Plant operators moved the facility to manual operation while the problem was investigated, and the city said it had put additional security measures in place to protect the supply.
City Manager Randy Frazer said the water supply remained completely safe and that there had been no disruption to service. The city notified the relevant authorities and engaged outside cybersecurity specialists to work on restoring the plant's automated control systems.
Officials released few technical details. Neither the intrusion method nor the identity of the attacker was disclosed, and the city did not confirm whether ransomware was involved. SecurityWeek observed that shutting systems down and reverting to manual control is a typical containment response to ransomware, and Infosecurity Magazine reported that the available indicators pointed the same way, though neither outlet could confirm it.
The incident came against a run of federal warnings about internet exposed operational technology at small US water utilities, which commonly run with limited security staffing. As of the end of September 2024 the plant was still working through recovery of its automated systems while continuing to supply water manually.