Security News > 2021 > April > Kansas Man Charged with Tampering with Public Water System
The United States Department of Justice this week announced official charges against a Kansas man, for accessing and tampering with a public water system.
The man, Wyatt A. Travnichek, 22, of Ellsworth County, Kansas, is accused of accessing the computer system of the Ellsworth County Rural Water District without authorization.
These actions, the indictment claims, were intended to harm the Ellsworth Rural Water District No. 1, which is also referred to as Post Rock Rural Water District.
Travnichek, who worked for the Ellsworth County Rural Water District for roughly one year, had been tasked to remotely access the Post Rock computer system, for monitoring the plant.
If found guilty, Travnichek faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison for tampering with a public water system, and up to 5 years in federal prison for reckless damage to a protected computer during unauthorized access.
"By illegally tampering with a public drinking water system, the defendant threatened the safety and health of an entire community," said Lance Ehrig, Special Agent in Charge of EPA's Criminal Investigation Division in Kansas.