Expert: Minnesota water systems need updating to prevent future attacks

Minnesota's water systems were attacked last week -- and we weren't alone. Seven states were targeted in all. That's according to new reporting done by the New York Times over the weekend. The Times also reports that federal officals suspect Iran may be behind the attacks, although the investigation is still ongoing.

Plymouth, just northwest of downtown Minneapolis, was one the cities that dealt with the cyber attack. Public Works Director Michael Thompson says it wasn’t their drinking water systems that went offline, but their sanitary system and two water towers.

Thompson also shared with MPR News that since last week's attack, there have been more attempts to hack into Plymouth’s water systems, “even though there's been attempted intrusions since those have all been blocked, but we continue to monitor.”

Faisal Kaleem is a cybersecurity expert with Metro State University. He joined Minnesota Now to talk about the cyberattack.