Recently, there was a cyberattack on an Irish water utility that resulted in hackers gaining control of the system and disrupting the water supply.
Last week, a private group water system in the Erris area was targeted by cybercriminals in a politically motivated attack. As a result, the equipment of the water system was disrupted, leading to the inconvenience of 180 households.
According to reports from Western sources, the Eurotronics Israeli-made water pumping system experienced a malfunction, resulting in a two-day disruption of water supply. Workers were able to repair the system to restore normal water supply.
Alerts Blocked
The group water scheme was founded in 1974, and according to Noel Walsh, a member, the committee generally gets phone alerts when their water supply goes out, but not on this particular occasion.
“Our caretaker went down and when he got to the pumphouse, up on the screen was a sign ‘You have been hacked’. Down with Israel was written on it and the name of the company that hacked us,” he said.
Additionally, he said that there is no strong security; meanwhile, they are improving the security currently.
According to Mr. Walsh, the attack was shocking and quite inconvenient, but people were relieved when their water supply was restored on Friday night.
The officers committed to a meeting to discuss how prepared they are to deal with cyber-attacks and what kind of warnings are given to other group water schemes and other agencies and organizations.
“They would be our first port of call concerning anything on a national level and not just for Mayo and certainly we will be responding, and in any way we can, very quickly concerning those issues. We are certainly there to assist in any way we can,” said Chief Superintendent McMahon.
Moreover, The chief stated that as soon as an incident happens, they promptly confer with the national office, which assumes the lead role in the investigation and discusses it with detectives.