FBI and EPA Warn of OT Attacks Against Internet-Facing Water-Utility PLCs
The FBI and EPA issued a July 30 public-service announcement after water and wastewater utilities in at least seven states reported cyber incidents since July 27 involving internet-facing Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley MicroLogix 1100 and 1400 PLCs. The agencies say actors changed IP addresses and passwords, resulting in loss of monitoring and control; reported operational effects included pressure loss and flooding. Their recommended safeguards include removing PLCs from direct internet exposure through secure gateways and firewalls, using strong unique passwords, and applying access-control lists to limit control-system communications.
Source: FBI and EPA public-service announcement
Brinks Home Confirms Unauthorized IT Access; Alarm Monitoring Continues
Brinks Home has disclosed unauthorized access to a portion of its IT systems and says it activated incident-response procedures to contain and investigate the incident. The company states that its alarm monitoring and system functionality continue without interruption. It also acknowledges that the responsible party has threatened to release information it claims to have taken, while the investigation into the data involved and potentially affected individuals continues. Brinks Home advises customers to remain vigilant against unsolicited emails, text messages, and calls seeking personal information or account credentials.
Source: Brinks Home cybersecurity update
Frenos Raises $1.52M to Expand AI-Native OT Security Validation
Industrial Cyber reports that OT-security vendor Frenos raised a $1.52 million seed extension, bringing its reported total funding to $6.4 million. The company also announced SAIRA Co-Work, which it describes as a persistent OT-security co-worker that reasons over live digital-twin data and supports evidence-based investigations. Frenos says its platform simulates adversary behavior to validate attack paths and prioritize exploitable risks without scanning, hardware deployment, or production downtime. These platform capabilities are vendor claims and should be evaluated by operators in the context of their own environments and assurance requirements.
Source: Industrial Cyber
Defensible OT Architecture Becomes a Priority for AI-Connected Manufacturing
As manufacturers add AI, remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, and cloud analytics to production environments, IIoT World emphasizes the importance of a defensible OT architecture. The article recommends protecting the IT/OT boundary, segmenting internal zones to restrict lateral movement, controlling data flows, and planning compensating controls for legacy assets that cannot be patched on IT timelines. The message for industrial operators is that new AI-related connectivity should be designed around constrained, monitored pathways rather than broad network access.
Source: IIoT World
