CHARLESTON, W.Va. — American Water announced this week it had been the target of a cyber attack.
Its subsidiary West Virginia American Water serves nearly 4,000 customers in Jefferson, Morgan and Berkeley counties.
A link on the West Virginia American Water website announced that in response, the online payment system and other online systems had been deactivated. “Our MyWater website is currently unavailable American Water learned of unauthorized activity in our system determined to be the result of a cybersecurity incident. In an effort to protect our customers’ data and to prevent any further harm to our environment, we disconnected or deactivated certain systems. Currently scheduled appointments will be rescheduled as soon as possible. For relevant status updates, please visit this link for more information.”
There will be no late charges or services shut off while MyWater remains unavailable, according to the announcement.
American Water announced the company had learned last Thursday about unauthorized activity in its computer networks and systems which were determined to be the result of a cybersecurity incident.
“As part of our response, we proactively took our customer portal service, MyWater, offline, which means we are pausing billing until further notice. We are working diligently to bring our systems back online safely and securely.”
American Water Company said they are working “around the clock to investigate the nature and scope of the incident.”
“We sincerely regret any inconvenience this incident may cause and we are working diligently to remediate and to bring these systems back online in a safe and secure manner.” The announcement breaks down the timeline and the response:
- What happened? On Thursday, October 3, 2024, American Water learned of unauthorized activity in our computer networks and systems. This activity has since been determined to be the result of a cybersecurity incident. In an effort to protect our customers’ data and to prevent any further harm to our environment, we disconnected or deactivated certain systems. We proactively took MyWater offline, which means we are pausing billing until further notice. We are working diligently to bring these systems back online safely and securely.
- How is American Water responding? Upon learning of the issue, our team immediately activated our incident response protocols and third-party cybersecurity professionals to assist with containment, mitigation and an investigation into the nature and scope of the incident. We also notified law enforcement and are coordinating fully with them.
- We are working diligently to bring the disconnected systems back online safely and securely. Investigations of this nature take time, and we will share information when and as appropriate.
- Why can’t I access my MyWater account? In an effort to protect our customers’ data and to prevent any further harm to our environment, we disconnected or deactivated certain systems. We proactively took MyWater offline, which means we are pausing billing until further notice. There will be no late charges or services shut off while MyWater remains unavailable.
- What is the current status of American Water’s operations and services? We proactively took MyWater offline, which means we are pausing billing until further notice. There will be no late charges or services shut off while MyWater remains unavailable. Additionally, our call center has limited functionality while MyWater is offline. We are working diligently to bring these services back online safely and securely.
We currently believe that none of its water or wastewater facilities or operations have been negatively impacted by this incident. - Will this impact my water services and/or other utilities? At this time, we currently believe that none of our water or wastewater facilities or operations have been negatively impacted by this incident. There will be no late charges or services shut off while MyWater remains unavailable.
- Is the water safe to drink? Yes.
- Is my information at risk? Our team is working around the clock to investigate this incident and safely restore our systems. Investigations of this nature take time, and we will provide more information when and as appropriate.
- How did this happen? American Water activated third-party cybersecurity professionals to assist with our investigation into the nature of the incident. This investigation is ongoing and will take time to complete. We take the cybersecurity of our systems with utmost seriousness and are taking additional steps to strengthen the cybersecurity of American Water’s systems. Our customers and the data we maintain remain our highest priorities.
- What can I do through the call center? Our call center has limited functionality while MyWater is offline. We are working diligently to bring these services back online safely and securely.
- Will I be charged late fees? No. There will be no late charges or services shut off while MyWater remains unavailable.
- Where can I go for more information? As we continue to contain and remediate our environment, we will be sharing updated information as appropriate on www.amwater.com.
