Security News > 2021 > February > Hackers tried poisoning town after breaching its water facility
A hacker gained access to the water treatment system for the city of Oldsmar, Florida, and attempted to increase the concentration of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, to extremely dangerous levels.
The attack on the computer system at Oldsmar water treatment system happened on Friday at 1:30 PM, through a remote desktop software that allowed authorized users to troubleshoot system problems remotely.
A plant operator said that they observed how someone took control of the mouse and used it to make changes in the software that controls the functions for the city's water treatment.
Eric Seidel, the mayor of the city, said that Oldsmar water treatment system is set up with redundancies that would have sounded an alarm if the water's chemical levels reached dangerous levels.
"Even if the plant operator had not quickly reversed the increased amount of sodium hydroxide, it would have taken between 24 and 36 hours for that water to hit the water supply system and there are redundancies in place where the water had been checked before it would have been released" - Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.
Among the oldest ones that caught public attention occurred in 2000 at a waste water treatment facility in Australia and was an inside job.