American Water Works — a supplier of drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people — on Monday said hackers had breached its computer networks and systems.
The Camden, New Jersey-based utility became aware of the unauthorized activity on Thursday, and took protective steps, including shutting down certain systems, American Water Works stated in a regulatory filing. The company does not believe its facilities or operations were impacted by the cybersecurity incident, but is “currently unable to predict the full impact,” it stated.
“In an effort to protect our customers’ data and to prevent any further harm to our environment, we disconnected or deactivated certain systems. There will be no late charges for customers while these systems are unavailable,” an American Water spokesperson told CBS News in an email. The company is “working around the clock to investigate the nature and scope of the incident,” the spokesperson added.
The company said it has notified law enforcement and is cooperating with with them.
According to its website, American Water is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the U.S., and provides drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people in 14 states and on 18 military installations.
Shares of the company were down $2.87, or 2%, at $139.71 in early morning trade.
U.S. officials have recently become concerned about alleged work by Chinese intelligence officers to breach critical U.S. infrastructure networks such as water-treatment facilities, and tied a cyberattack targeting U.S. broadband providers to the government in Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Kate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York, where she covers business and consumer finance.
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