Officials say Iran was likely behind cyberattack targeting Minnesota water systems

Published July 30, 2026 4:03pm ET



A preliminary analysis by U.S. investigators concluded that Iranian hackers were probably behind a cyberattack targeting dozens of municipal water systems in Minnesota this week, an escalation in Iran’s retaliatory moves sprouting from the war.

Tenable, the security firm investigating around 30 cyberattacks on water management infrastructure from Sunday to Monday, was careful not to explicitly attribute the attack to any one group, but noted that the attack pattern was consistent with that of the faux hacktivist group “CyberAv3ngers,” a group the U.S. government says is a front for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber-Electronic Command. The cyberattacks were aimed at wells and treatment plants, specifically targeting automated systems and plants’ computer systems.

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