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New Semperis Study Reveals that Cyberattacks on Water and Electric Utilities Threaten Public Safety and Economic Stability

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2 years ago

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81% of cyberattacks on utilities compromise identity systems such as Active Directory, Entra ID, and Okta.

HOBOKEN, N.J., April 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Semperis, a leader in AI-powered identity security and cyber resilience, today released a new study analyzing cyberattacks targeting water and electricity operators across the U.S. and U.K. 62% of utility operators were targeted by cyberattacks in the past year, and of those, 80% were attacked multiple times. More than half (54%) suffered permanent corruption or destruction of data and systems.

Recent high-profile cyberattacks by nation-state groups on water and electricity utilities underscore the vulnerability of critical infrastructure. A public utility in Littleton, MA, was recently compromised by a group linked to Volt Typhoon, the Chinese state-sponsored threat group. American Water Works —the largest U.S. water and wastewater utility—also detected unauthorized activity in its computer network that disrupted customer service and billing. In response to escalating threats such as these, the EPA issued an advisory urging water utilities to improve their ability to detect, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks.

Surprisingly, more than one-third (38%) of utility operators believed they had not been targeted by cyberattacks. Cybersecurity experts view this figure as alarmingly high, suggesting that many of these organizations may have been breached without realizing it.

“Many public utilities likely don’t realize that China has infiltrated their infrastructure,” said Chris Inglis, the first U.S. National Cyber Director and Semperis Strategic Advisor. “Chinese-sponsored threat actors like Volt Typhoon are known to prefer Living off the Land attacks, which are difficult to detect and can remain dormant, planting backdoors, gathering information, or waiting to strike for months or even years.”

The report, The State of Critical Infrastructure Resilience: Evaluating Cyber Threats to Water and Electric Utilities, found that nearly 60% of attacks were carried out by nation-state groups. In addition, in 81% of cyberattacks, attackers compromised identity systems such as Active Directory, Entra ID, and Okta.

The potential public impacts of being without electricity, heat, or clean water for even a short period can be significant. Our study indicates that utility customers in the U.S. and U.K. have been relatively fortunate—so far.

The Age of Resilience
“If you don’t improve resilience, attackers keep coming. Utilities have an opportunity to address this challenge. They need to assume breaches will happen and, through tabletop exercises, they can practice attack scenarios that could be a reality in the future,” said Mickey Bresman, CEO, Semperis.

What sets utility operators apart from many other industries is the critical nature of their work. If an electricity or water operator is compromised, the potential risks to public health and safety can put an entire nation at risk. Our experts note that resilience to cyberattacks that threaten operations should be the top priority for every organization involved in critical infrastructure.

“The systems that supply our power grids and our clean drinking water are the underpinning of everything we do,” added Inglis. “And yet we go about our business, confident that somebody else is going to handle it. Somebody else isn’t going to handle it. We need to harden our systems and extract criminal elements—now.”

To improve operational resilience against cyberattacks, utilities should:

Identify Tier 0 infrastructure components that are essential for recovery from a cyberattack.Prioritize incident response and recovery for these systems, followed by mission-critical (Tier 1) functions, business-critical (Tier 2) functions, and then all other (Tier 3) functions.Document response and recovery processes and practice them using real-world scenarios that involve people and processes beyond the IT department.Focus not just on fast recovery but on secure recovery. Attackers often attempt to compromise backups to maintain persistence in the environment, even after recovery attempts. Implement solutions that support speed, security, and visibility in crisis situations.

The full cyber threat study analyzes survey responses from IT and security professionals at 350 utility companies and includes breakdowns by country. Free download is available at: https://www.semperis.com/the-state-of-critical-infrastructure-resilience.

For more information about how Semperis helps global organizations improve cyber resilience, visit the Semperis Identity Resilience Platform page at: https://www.semperis.com/identity-resilience-platform/.

About Semperis
Semperis protects critical enterprise identity services for security teams charged with defending hybrid and multi-cloud environments from cyberattacks, data breaches, and operational errors. Purpose-built for securing hybrid identity environments—including Active Directory, Entra ID, and Okta—Semperis’ AI-powered technology protects over 100 million identities from cyberattacks, data breaches, and operational errors.

As part of its mission to be a force for good, Semperis offers a variety of cyber community resources, including the award-winning Hybrid Identity Protection (HIP) Conference, HIP Podcast, and free identity security tools Purple Knight and Forest Druid. Semperis is a privately owned, international company headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, supporting the world’s biggest brands and government agencies, with customers in more than 40 countries. 

Learn more: https://www.semperis.com 

Follow us: Blog / LinkedIn / X / Facebook / YouTube 

Media Contact:
Bill Keeler
Senior Director, PR & Comms
billk@semperis.com 

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BCE reports results of Series S and T preferred share conversions

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October 19, 2026

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MONTRÉAL, Oct. 19, 2026 /CNW/ — BCE Inc. (TSX: BCE) (NYSE: BCE) today announced that 400 of its 4,798,333 fixed-rate Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series T (“Series T Preferred Shares”) have been tendered for conversion on November 2, 2026, on a one-for-one basis, into floating-rate Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series S (“Series S Preferred Shares”). In addition, 676,765 of its 1,866,877 Series S Preferred Shares have been tendered for conversion on November 2, 2026, on a one-for-one basis, into Series T Preferred Shares. Consequently, on November 2, 2026, BCE will have 5,474,698 Series T Preferred Shares and 1,190,512 Series S Preferred Shares issued and outstanding. The Series T Preferred Shares and the Series S Preferred Shares will continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols BCE.PR.T and BCE.PR.S, respectively.

The Series T Preferred Shares will pay on a quarterly basis, for the five-year period beginning on November 2, 2026, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE, a fixed cash dividend based on an annual fixed dividend rate of 5.523%.

The Series S Preferred Shares will continue to pay a monthly floating adjustable cash dividend for the five-year period beginning on November 2, 2026, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE. The monthly floating adjustable dividend for any particular month will continue to be calculated based on the prime rate for such month and using the Designated Percentage for such month representing the sum of an adjustment factor (based on the market price of the Series S Preferred Shares in the preceding month) and the Designated Percentage for the preceding month.

About BCE
BCE is Canada’s largest communications company1, leading the way in advanced fibre and wireless networks, enterprise services and digital media. By delivering next-generation technology that leverages cloud-based and AI-driven solutions, we’re keeping customers connected, informed and entertained while enabling businesses to compete on the world stage. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca or BCE.ca.

1 Based on total revenue and total combined customer connections.

Media inquiries:
Ellen Murphy
media@bell.ca

Investor inquiries:
Krishna Somers
krishna.somers@bell.ca

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3M announces collaboration with GSEO to advance Expanded Beam Optical manufacturing and development

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October 19, 2026

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ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — 3M (NYSE: MMM) today announced a collaboration with Genius Electronic Optical Co., Ltd. (GSEO, Taiwan: 3406), an optical technology company, to advance technology development and manufacturing for 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) solutions. In support of these efforts, 3M expects to make a strategic investment to acquire approximately 4.7% of GSEO’s common shares as part of the company’s private placement of newly issued shares, subject to customary closing conditions.

The collaboration brings together 3M’s EBO technology leadership, optical interconnect expertise, materials science, manufacturing scale and customer relationships with GSEO’s precision optics manufacturing capabilities and production scale. Together, the companies aim to support EBO commercialization and long-term capacity expansion to meet growing demand from hyperscale data centers and other advanced connectivity applications.

“3M is investing in capabilities and partnerships that can accelerate innovation for our customers,” said William Brown, 3M Chairman and CEO. “By selecting GSEO as a manufacturing partner and investing in the company, we are strengthening the path to scale next-generation optical connectivity solutions for high-performance data center infrastructure.”

GSEO’s existing precision optics manufacturing capabilities and technical development experience are expected to support manufacturing readiness for 3M’s EBO ferrules, co-packaged optics solutions and related optical interconnect applications. The collaboration is part of 3M’s broader EBO ecosystem strategy, which includes continued work with customers and partners across the optical interconnect market.

“GSEO is pleased to expand its relationship with 3M as we work together to advance optical interconnect solutions for next-generation data center infrastructure,” said Micro Kuo, GSEO CEO and President. “This collaboration brings together complementary technology and manufacturing strengths to support continued innovation and help meet the performance demands of high-growth connectivity markets.”

3M expects the strategic investment to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release are considered “forward-looking statements” under the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, and are intended to enjoy the protection of those laws. Forward-looking statements may appear throughout this release and are typically identified by the words “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “evaluate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “goal,” “guidance,” “impact,” “initial,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “outlook,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “probable,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” “would,” and other words that are similar to, or have the opposite meanings of, those words. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, 3M assumes no duty to update those statements, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of those statements. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events and trends that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of 3M’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

About 3M
3M (NYSE: MMM) is focused on transforming industries around the world by applying science and creating innovative, customer-focused solutions. Our multi-disciplinary team is working to solve tough customer problems by leveraging diverse technology platforms, differentiated capabilities, global footprint, and operational excellence. Discover how 3M is shaping the future at 3M.com/news.

Contacts
3M
Investor Contact:
Diane Farrow, 612-202-2449
Media Contact:
3MNews@mmm.com 

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Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers Announces Second Annual Operation Fur-Ever Home Pet Adoption Event at Lafreniere Park

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October 19, 2026

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NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers is excited to announce the return of its second annual Operation Fur-Ever Home, a free community pet adoption event taking place on Saturday, November 14, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Lafreniere Park in Metairie, Louisiana.

The free, family-friendly event will give attendees the opportunity to meet adoptable pets from local animal shelters, learn about responsible pet ownership, and potentially welcome a new furry companion into their homes. Those who preregister for the event will also be entered for a chance to win a Soundcore speaker and a free pet adoption.

“Last year’s event was everything we hoped it would be, and we are incredibly excited to bring Operation Fur-Ever Home back for a second year,” said David Vicknair, founding partner of Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers. “There is something special about watching a family meet a pet that could become part of their lives for years to come. We wanted to create another opportunity to make those connections while supporting the organizations that work tirelessly to care for animals in our community.”

Building on the success of the first event, this year’s event continues the firm’s commitment to supporting local animal shelters and creating meaningful opportunities for families throughout Southeast Louisiana.

“Giving back to our community has always been an important part of who we are as a firm,” said Vicknair. “Whether we are helping students prepare for school, recognizing deserving teachers, or supporting local animal shelters, our goal is to make a positive difference in the communities we serve.”

Operation Fur-Ever Home is free and open to the public. Families, animal lovers, and anyone interested in adopting a pet are encouraged to attend and preregister.

About Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers

Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers is a New Orleans-based personal injury firm committed to providing exceptional legal representation while also investing in the communities it serves. Their experienced team of dedicated attorneys specializes in car accidents, personal injury, and wrongful death cases in New Orleans. With diverse personal and professional backgrounds, they craft legal strategies tailored to each client’s specific case and needs.

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