A cyber incident disrupted communications with Woodbine, New Jersey’s municipal water system in late July, forcing employees to manually reactivate the system while officials worked with state and federal agencies.
Woodbine officials said drinking water remained safe throughout the incident and that no personal information or customer data was accessed or compromised. Water service was not interrupted, according to NBC10 Philadelphia.
The Press of Atlantic City reported that the incident occurred July 27 and was resolved by July 29. FOX 29 reported that the incidents affecting Woodbine and nearby Cape May occurred nearly simultaneously and disrupted the systems for about 12 hours.
Mayor William Pikolycky said the intrusion succeeded only in interrupting phone communications with Woodbine’s water system.
“This resulted in a few bad hours for the Borough of Woodbine Water Department personnel as they reactivated the system manually and consulted with the contractor, CISA, Homeland Security and the FBI,” Pikolycky said. “Once the information gathering was complete, the system was back online with no further issues.”
Officials said Woodbine also worked with cybersecurity specialists, the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to investigate and contain the incident.
Chip in once
If this reporting helped you, a one-time tip helps cover hosting, tools and future investigations.
Support us monthly
A small monthly pledge keeps independent coverage and our reader tools online for everyone.
Operators continued running the water system manually during the disruption. Officials said water treatment, supply and monitoring remained safe and residents did not need to take any action.
Woodbine disclosed its incident alongside a separate cyber incident affecting the City of Cape May Water and Sewer Department. Cape May experienced disruption to parts of its computer network, but water service remained uninterrupted. Officials described Woodbine’s incident more narrowly as a communications outage that required manual intervention.
The two incidents came amid a broader series of cyber incidents involving internet-connected technology used by U.S. water and wastewater utilities beginning around July 27, according to federal warnings issued during the same period.
No threat actor has been publicly confirmed in the Woodbine incident, and officials have not disclosed the specific method used to gain access. The borough said the system was restored and operating without further problems.
