Remote access solutions have helped businesses adapt to the sudden remote workforce transition. This a deliberate attack against the 15,000 residents relying on the water supply. If the staff member happened to step away from the computer at the time, the outcome would have been devastating. Sheriff Gualtieri also confirmed that the public was never in danger and that the city’s water supply was not affected. "The amount of sodium hydroxide that got in was minimal and was reversed quickly," Sheriff Gualtieri said. Sheriff Gualtieri was contacted alongside the FBI and Secret Service to assist with the investigation. The water treatment facility quickly reverted the malicious actions, minimizing the impact on the water supply. Purification processes use small doses of lye to control water acidity, but in high doses, this chemical could be lethal. The staff member watched the cursor open programs and manipulate settings, increasing the level of lye (Sodium Hydroxide) in the water supply. The staff member behind the screen didn’t find this unusual since the company installed TeamViewer for regular remote access. The incident was preceded by a window pop up saying that the targeted computer was being accessed remotely. The attacker used the software TeamViewer to remotely access a water treatment plant that serves the town of Oldsmar in Florida. The attack didn’t occur in clandestine Hollywood fashion, but with complete transparency before a bewildered staff member. Only in Hollywood movies do we see hackers puppeteering vast mechanical processes with just a few crisp keystrokes.īut an unknown attacker has peeled the action off the cinema screen and applied it to a water treatment facility in Florida. Newsweek has contacted the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center for comment on the hack.Cyberattacks tend to fall into two categories - data breaches and reconnaissance campaigns. Gualtieri confirmed that "at no time was there a significant adverse effect on the water being treated." The employee at the plant noticed that the hacker had made changes and was able to lower the level of the chemical. This is obviously a significant and potentially dangerous increase." "The hacker changed the sodium hydroxide from about 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million. "One of the functions opened by the person hacking into the system was one that controls the amount of sodium hydroxide in the water. "The person remotely accessed the system for about three to five minutes, opening various functions on the screen," Gualtieri said. local time, the employee once again noticed that his computer was being accessed remotely. Gualtieri said that in the morning a plant employee "noticed that someone remotely accessed the computer system that he was monitoring," which controls the chemicals at the plant, but didn't think much of it as colleagues regularly use the system from home.Īt around 1:30 p.m. Speaking during a press conference on February 8, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said that the hack occurred on February 5 at the Oldsmar Water Treatment Facility when someone accessed a TeamViewer account. Read more Ransomware Hacker Skills Now As Good or Better Than Countries, Expert Says The amount of chemicals it would take to cause harm to people.the numbers are astronomical."Ī few weeks after the incident in San Francisco, a hacker infiltrated the system of the water treatment plant in Oldsmar, Florida, and attempted to add a "dangerous" level of chemicals to the facility's water. "For a large impact, there has to be a large change in the chemicals in the system. "It takes a lot to influence a water supply chain," he said. That is not accurate," he said, as Sena explained that tampering with the computer programs would be unlikely to result in any serious widespread poisoning. "No one tried to poison any of our water. NBC reported that the hacker "tried to poison" the area's water, but Michael Sena, the executive director of the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, denied that claim while speaking to The San Francisco Chronicle. "No failures were reported as a result of this incident, and no individuals in the city reported illness from water-related failures," the report from the unidentified facility said about the hack. The hack was unnoticed until the next day, but when it was discovered the plant reinstalled all the deleted programs and reset the passwords for its employees. The report claimed that after the hacker logged in to the plant's system, they deleted several programs that the facility uses to treat the drinking water in the area. Biden Urged by Democrats to Be Tougher on Vladimir Putin Than Obama, Trump.Water Supplier Among Those hit in Suspected Chinese Hack Why Vladimir Putin Wants A Deal to Avoid 'Cyber Pearl Harbor'.
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