Hacker targets Florida town’s water supply

(WFLA/NBC News) A hacker was able to successfully alter the levels of chemicals in Oldsmar, Florida’s water supply to “potentially damaging” levels Friday according to investigators.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said on Friday morning a plant operator at Oldsmar’s water treatment facility noticed someone remotely accessed the computer system he was monitoring.

The computers are set up for allowing remote access to select people to troubleshoot problems, so the operator didn’t think much about the incident.

It happened again that afternoon, however, as the operator could see the mouse moving on the computer screen, opening various software functions that controlled the water being treated in the system.

Gualtieri said the hacker increased the sodium hydroxide levels in the city’s water from 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million.

“This is obviously a significant and potentially dangerous increase,” Gualtieri said. “Sodium hydroxide is the main ingredient in liquid drain cleaners. It’s also used to control water acidity and remove metals from drinking water in the water treatment plants.”

Read more: http://bit.ly/3d27pw5