Most local water systems are operated by local authorities, don’t have a dedicated IT team, and lack the money or resources to thoroughly protect themselves without some extra help. A water treatment plant in Minnesota, where a coordinated cyberattack targeted dozens of municipal water systems last week. About 97 percent of water systems are small, run by local agencies that often barely lock the proverbial front door. Most of America’s small-town water systems are unusually vulnerable to cyberattacks. They could poison the tap water, as a still unidentified hacker almost did in Florida in 2021, dialing up the levels of sodium hydroxide used at a water treatment plant by over 100 times its normal levels.