Cape May, Woodbine water systems hit by cyberattack; officials say drinking water safe

CAPE MAY, N.J. - Two local water departments in Cape May County were targeted by cyberattacks last week, but officials say water safety wasn't affected and customers' data wasn't accessed.

New Jersey water department cyberattacks

What we know:

The City of Cape May Sewer Department and the Borough of Woodbine Water Department reported the attacks on Thursday.

Officials said the attacks happened nearly simultaneously early in the morning on July 27. Both systems were impacted for approximately 12 hours. 

Dig deeper:

Cape May's water department serves the city, including the United States Coast Guard Training Center, as well as West Cape May, Lower Township and Cape May Point.

Water kept running in both districts the whole time, and tests after the attacks showed no impacts on water quality or safety, officials said. Neither department's customer data was accessed either.

Officials say portions of the computer networks for both water departments were affected. Paul Dietrich, City of Cape May manager, said, "We kind of realized that some settings got changed and we realized that we were probably hacked. That’s when we notified NJCCIC (New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell) to come down and help us."

Dietrich also said, "All they did was came in and allowed it so we could not gain access remotely to the system. They didn’t change any settings, they didn’t take control of the systems to do anything."

According to Woodbine Mayor William Pikolycky, the only system that was disrupted during their attack was the phones.

What they're saying:

Cybersecurity experts say hackers could control a lot after breaking into to a local water system.

"They're actually having the ability to control the water pressure, meaning that they could increase the pressure and cause flooding, or the could decrease the pressure so that you would have a reduced pressure, or ultimately, have no water flow at all," said Ian Marlow, CEO of FITECH.

RELATED: New Jersey water departments targeted in cyber incidents; systems now secured

What's next:

Water officials say residents don't need to take any action, and that both departments will continue testing the water and the system in the coming days.