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’60 Minutes’ spotlights Chinese hacking of Massachusetts town’s utility network
A national security segment revealed how hackers infiltrated the local utility network as part of a wider Chinese operation.
A “60 Minutes” report uncovered how Chinese hackers infiltrated Littleton, Massachusetts’s electric and water systems, as one small town got caught in a nationwide campaign to target U.S. utilities.
In the report aired on the CBS newsmagazine show Sunday, Oct. 12, Nick Lawler, the general manager of Littleton’s electric and water provider, tells “60 Minutes” that the FBI notified him that China had hacked into their utility network — which controls the chemicals in drinking water — in November 2023.
Luckily, the FBI caught China before it had operational control of the system.
“If you are willing to go after a small water provider in Littleton, Massachusetts, what other target is off the list?” asked Former National Security Agency Director Gen. Tim Haugh on “60 Minutes.”
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Littleton was one of 200 utilities that the FBI found had been compromised by China’s operation, according to the news program. Other targets included the New York City transit authority, gas pipeline operations, Houston’s port, and major telecom companies.
In Littleton, China took advantage of a weakness in the firewall network to steal login credentials and masquerade as an employee. The Chinese government remained dormant on the network but apparently maintained access in case it might need it later.
Haugh said that if the U.S. and China were ever in a conflict, it would be a way to target the U.S. on home soil, taking away resources and causing a distraction.
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The infrastructure breach meant that Littleton, a small town of 10,000 residents, had to spend $50,000 to rebuild the network.
“That goes against every norm of international law,” Haugh said. “That certainly goes against how the United States military would approach targeting in a crisis or a conflict. The fact that they would go after basic services as part of their effort that they have identified as unrestricted warfare is unconscionable.”
The section of the report on Littleton appears below. You can watch the full segment on the “60 Minutes” YouTube channel here.
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