Why the world’s richest country can’t defend vital infrastructure

www.economist.com · 2026-08-20 · by Long Nguyen ·generic
Iranian hackers infiltrated water facilities in at least seven American states, exploiting weak cyber-security in local utilities that serve millions of people. | United States

Why the world’s richest country can’t defend vital infrastructure

United States | Water wars

Why the world’s richest country can’t defend vital infrastructure

Washington continues to move more slowly than hackers

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Illustration of water pipes with technological, hazardous and water elements on them. the shape of the United States is on the left side and the shape of Iran on the right one.

Illustration: Ben Jones

Aug 19th 2026|WASHINGTON, DC|6 min read

WATER IS A strategic vulnerability, a fact that is not news to military commanders. When the Ostrogoths wanted to cripple Rome in 537, they destroyed its aqueducts. More recently, water infrastructure has been an important target in America’s conflict with Iran, despite international laws classifying such attacks as potential war crimes. In March Donald Trump threatened to “completely obliterate…possibly all” of Iran’s desalination facilities, which are essential to life in the country’s arid southern provinces. Iran says that one such facility was bombed on Qeshm island. Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have had their own water plants struck by missiles, presumed to be from Iran.

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