Authorities have suspended an attempt by a hacker to poison the water supply in a Florida town of 15,000 people.
A Pinellas County sheriff says a hacker broke into the computer system of a facility that handles water for about 15,000 people in the town of Oldsmar near Tampa in the U.S. state of Florida and attempted to add a dangerous level of additive to the water supply.
The attempt was unsuccessful on Friday, as facility staff were able to contain the existing tow truck. gained remote access to TeamViewer software on a facility worker’s computer to take control of other systems, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said in an interview.
The browser then increased the amount of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, releasing it into the water supply. The chemical is usually used in small amounts to control the acidity of water but it is dangerous to eat at higher levels.
“The man was sitting there monitoring the computer as it should and suddenly he sees a window showing that the computer has been accessed,” Gualtieri said. “The next thing you know is that someone is dragging the mouse and clicking around and opening programs and manipulating the system.”
An employee of the plant warned his employer, who named the sheriff. The water treatment facility was able to quickly reverse the command, with minimal impact.
‘Call to wake up’
The sheriff said the attacker was active for three to five minutes. When they were gone, the plant operator immediately restored the correct chemical mixture, he said.
They have not been arrested so far. The FBI and the Secret Service were called in to help with the investigation.
Gualtieri said he does not know who is responsible for the cyberattack.
“The important thing is to get everyone’s attention,” he said. “This should be a wake-up call.”
Oldsmar Mayor Eric Seidel said at a news conference Monday that the affected water treatment plant had other controls that would have prevented a dangerous amount of lye from entering the supply unconscious water.
“There was not much sodium hydroxide that went in and it was quickly reversed,” Gualtieri said. The affected water treatment facility is a public utility owned by the city, he explained, which has an in-house IT team.
Experts say urban water and other systems are easy targets for hackers because local government computer infrastructure tends to be underfunded.
Robert M Lee, Head of Dragos Security and an expert in business control system vulnerabilities, said remote access to business control systems such as those running water treatment plants has become increasingly common.
“As businesses become more digitally connected we will continue to see more states and criminals targeting these sites for their impact on society,” Lee said.
Leading cybersecurity company FireEye has had a huge impact on the hacking efforts it has seen in the past year largely on beginners trying to learn about remotely accessible business systems.
Apparently many victims were randomly selected and no serious damage was caused in any of the cases – partly due to safety mechanisms and professional inspection, FireEye analyst Daniel Kapellmann Zafra said in a statement .
“While the incident (Oldsmar) does not appear to be particularly complex, it does highlight the need to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities across the water and wastewater industry,” he said.