NEW JERSEY-BASED AMERICAN WATER, LARGEST U.S. WATER UTILITY, HIT BY CYBERATTACK

On Monday, the largest regulated water and wastewater utility in the U.S. revealed it had fallen victim to a cyberattack, leading the company to temporarily halt customer billing.

American Water, based in New Jersey and serving over 14 million people across 14 states and 18 military installations, reported discovering the unauthorized activity on Thursday. The company immediately implemented protective measures, including shutting down specific systems. While the attack did not appear to affect its facilities or operations, staff are working "around the clock" to determine the extent and nature of the breach.

The company has informed law enforcement and is cooperating with the investigation. Additionally, customers will not incur late fees during the outage.

American Water operates more than 500 water and wastewater systems in approximately 1,700 communities across California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, according to its website.