Investigators believe Iran may have been behind the coordinated cyberattack targeting multiple municipal water systems across Minnesota earlier this week, according to a new report by The New York Times. Federal and state officials told the newspaper that the attacks were “probably” the work of Iranian hackers. More than 30 community water systems across the state were targeted by cyber criminals on July 26 and 27, impacting automated controls and online capabilities. The news comes as tensions between the two countries have remained high since late February, when the war in Iran started, with the nations continuing to trade missile strikes on Thursday. However, the newspaper reports that officials have not definitively determined who was responsible for the attack, and that their preliminary assessment could change as more data is collected and information is learned. Officials also said hackers could be posing as Iranians in an effort to increase tensions between the two warring countries. Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) shared this statement on Thursday: “We are not attributing this activity to a specific actor at this time. Attribution requires careful analysis of technical evidence alongside broader national and international threat intelligence, and our federal partners are best positioned to lead that work. We understand the public interest in knowing who may be responsible, but we will not speculate while the investigation continues. Federal partners should address questions about any potential attribution.” MNIT is also working with federal, state, local, Tribal, and private partners to investigate the widespread incident. To date, there is no indication that the cyberattacks impacted the quality of the water in the cities that were targeted.