Iranian-linked hacker group claims responsibility for Minnesota water system cyberattack

Minnesota today is supported by Granite Partners, over 20 years of growing Minnesota-based companies that source and sell around the world. Granite Partners, growing companies, enhancing communities. You can learn more at granite.com. This is Minnesota today for Friday, August 14th. I'm Emily Reese, and here's what's happening in Minnesota. An Iranian-linked hacker group has claimed direct responsibility for the recent cyber attack against Minnesota water systems. That's according to Auburn University's Macquarie Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security. The Institute says the Cyber Avengers group says their, quote, intention on attacking Minnesota was only to warn, end quote. The Justice Department links the Cyber Avengers to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Cyber Electronic Command and says they're responsible for compromising the devices at the center of the attacks in Minnesota. Newly filed court documents show that Homeland Security agents conducted widespread surveillance of anti-ice protesters. The documents were filed in federal court in Minnesota yesterday. They show the government gathered financial information on non-profit groups and sent agents posing as protesters to public meetings. Amy Sweezy is a University of Minnesota law professor. You certainly open up the possibility that undercover people can join in those activities. What they do with that information, of course, is a different question, but it's not obviously illegal for something like that to take place. A lawyer representing one of the 15 anti-ice protesters charged in an alleged conspiracy says the prosecutions are politically motivated. Federal officials have not responded to calls for comment. Superior National Forest officials say crews are responding to a new small wildfire southeast of Ely. The Bogberry Fire was detected yesterday afternoon. It was sparked by lightning and estimated at about an acre and a half in size. Meanwhile, about 700 firefighters and support personnel are working to extend containment lines around the larger wildfires still burning in parts of the boundary waters. Those fires have burned more than 74,000 acres. but with recent fire activity relatively calm, the Forest Service this week reopened more BWCA entry points near the Echo Trail. As drought conditions deepen across much of Minnesota, there isn't much rain in the forecast. MPR meteorologist Sven Sundgard says scattered showers and storms are possible through this evening into tomorrow, but there's a catch. Unfortunately, this system, as we talked about yesterday, is backtracking on rainfall amounts. It looks like pretty widely scattered showers starting this evening in the Twin Cities and overnight. And then tomorrow really just hit and miss stuff. It's going to be pretty cloudy, though, but we're just not going to get a lot of rain out of it, probably under a quarter of an inch for most of us.

Sven says there's another chance for rain on Tuesday, but it's unclear there, too, whether there will be enough to chip away at the rainfall deficit. In sports, the twins lost the Phillies in the Field of Dreams game yesterday in Iowa. Those two teams play again tomorrow night, and they'll be back in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Vikings are preparing for their first preseason game. That's tomorrow, Saturday at noon, at the Meadowlands against the New York Giants. The Minnesota links play tomorrow night. They take on the Aces in Las Vegas. And Minnesota United plays at Salt Lake tomorrow night. That's it for Minnesota today. Thanks for listening. Phineas Pope will have a new update for you on Monday morning. And I hope you have a great weekend.