Minot, North Dakota water treatment plant ransomware

On March 14, 2026, ransomware infected a server running the SCADA system at the Minot, North Dakota water treatment plant, which serves approximately 80,000 residents. After discovery, operators shut down and uninstalled the compromised SCADA server, requiring staff to manually monitor gauges and maintain water pressure in storage facilities for approximately 16 hours. A ransom note was found on the server but specified no dollar amount, instead advising the city to "tighten up your firewalls." No ransomware group claimed responsibility and no attribution has been made. The FBI was notified and took custody of evidence; the incident was publicly disclosed April 1-4, 2026.

SCADA system offline for approximately 16 hours requiring full manual operations. Recovery took over two weeks to provision a replacement server. Water quality and supply were not affected. No ransom was paid.