The water system in Muleshoe, Texas, was attacked by Russian hackers in January, sending tens of thousands of gallons out of a water tower. (Google Maps)
According to Mike Cypert, the city manager of Hale Center, there were about 37,000 attempts in four days to log into the city’s firewall. Ultimately, the attempted hack failed as the city "unplugged" the system and operated it manually.
But in Muleshoe, which has a population of about 5,000, hackers caused the system to overflow before it was shut down and taken over manually by city officials.
In the letter to Mayorkas, the legislators said the cybersecurity firm Mandiant attributed the attack to Sandworm, which is believed to be connected to Russia’s spy agency, the GRU.
TEXAS FARMING CRISIS LOOMS AS US, MEXICO SPAR OVER LONG-STANDING WATER TREATY
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., left, and Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, requested a briefing with Alejandro Mayorkas regarding what is being done to protect U.S. water systems from being hacked. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images / Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images - Fallon)
They added that losing tens of thousands of gallons of water, like Muleshoe did in January, could have "devastating impacts" on rural communities across the country.
The two lawmakers sent a list of questions to Mayorkas, asking what actions his department is taking to respond to the hack against Muleshoe’s water system, what steps he is taking to protect the nation’s water facilities and other critical infrastructure from disruption and what lessons his department has learned from previous hacks, pointing to an incident last year when an Iranian regime-linked cyber group conducted a hack against a water authority in Pennsylvania.
The letter marks the second time since December of last year that Gallego has requested a briefing from Mayorkas about DHS protection of U.S. water facilities and other critical infrastructure from adversary disruption.
Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment and did not immediately hear back.
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In March, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan and Jake Sullivan, assistant to the president for National Security Affairs, sent a letter to the nation’s governors asking them to take steps to protect the water supply, including assessing cybersecurity and planning for a cyberattack.
"Drinking water and wastewater systems are an attractive target for cyberattacks because they are a lifeline critical infrastructure sector but often lack the resources and technical capacity to adopt rigorous cybersecurity practices," Regan and Sullivan wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bipartisan-lawmakers-seek-answers-mayorkas-russian-cyberattacks-water-systems-us