U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was urged by Reps. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Pat Fallon, R-Texas, to provide more information regarding the January cyberattack against a water treatment plant in Muleshoe, Texas, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Such an attack has been claimed by the Cyber Army of Russia associated with Russian state-backed threat operation Sandworm, which also took credit for an intrusion against Indiana-based water and wastewater treatment plant and electricity provider Tipton Municipal Utilities.
Aside from detailing DHS's response to the breach, Mayorkas has also been sought by the lawmakers to explain its coordination process with local, state, and international partners, as well as confirm whether additional authorities to defend U.S. water supply properly is necessary.
"As you may know, much of the American West is experiencing a historic, long-term drought that makes fortifying water supplies from vulnerabilities like adversary disruption efforts all the more important," wrote the legislators.
