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A water treatment plant in Florida was attacked by hackers who tried to poison a city’s water supply, according to the local sheriff.
An as yet unidentified suspect managed to get through a computer security system for the plant that serves the city of Oldsmar. Florida, on Friday, and tampered with the amount of chemicals in the water supply.
They briefly increased the amount of sodium hydroxide from 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a news conference Monday.
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Hacker tries to poison the city’s water supply
The chemical is used to treat acidity levels in the water supply, but it is also a component in things like soaps and drain cleaners.
In high concentrations, it can cause irritation, burns, and other complications.
Fortunately, the change in chemical levels was detected by a supervisor, who later managed to reverse the increase.
The city, which is about 15 miles northwest of Tampa, which hosted the Super Bowl on Sunday night, and its 15,000 residents were not at risk, authorities added.
“At no point was there a significant adverse effect on the water that was being treated,” Gualtieri said. “Importantly, the public was never in danger.”
The remote access system has been disabled since the incident, and officials said there were other safety measures in place to prevent elevated levels of chemicals from entering the water.
Leaders of nearby cities were informed of the incident and advised to check their systems.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, a worker at the plant first noticed the unusual activity around 8 a.m. Friday after someone accessed the system.
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Then they took control around 1.30pm and manipulated the software that controls the water treatment and increased the amount of sodium hydroxide. The change was detected and quickly reversed.
Investigators with the local county sheriff’s office, the FBI and the Secret Service said it is still unclear where the attack came from.
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