Ex-NSA Chief Paul Nakasone on Suspected Iranian Water Attacks: 'These PLCs Should Not Be Connected to the Internet'
The Register / Hacker News·medium signal
After the FBI investigated late-July 2026 attacks on operational technology devices, with water systems in at least 12 US states compromised, retired General Paul Nakasone told The Register that programmable logic controllers simply do not belong on the public internet. Halcyon's Ransomware Research Center SVP said 'it's almost certain it's Iran.' Nakasone framed the scale problem plainly: about 90% of US water comes from roughly 50,000 municipalities, typically underfunded with minimal IT staff, which is why volunteer efforts like DEF CON's Franklin project and Project Chimera exist. The HN thread drew 207 points and 138 comments.