A few weeks back we talked about a ransomware attack on a small town in northern Florida stealing $250,000 dollars for turning off public amenities (Check out that blog for more details). A recent attack has confirmed that these threats are no longer isolated incidents and are instead a growing concern for smaller cities/towns.
In the small town of Oldsmar, a quaint coastal town in the Tampa bay area, was recently targeted by hackers trying to remotely access the town’s public water treatment plant. Likely through an unprotected network.
According to the Sheriff Bob Gualtieri in a news conference on Monday, the hack attempt was luckily caught before major harm could be done. In Water treatment you clean the water with a variety of chemicals, one of those chemicals is Sodium Hydroxide, a main ingredient in drain cleaner and used for industrial soaps, lye and other industrial cleaning products. Normally the content for water treatment is 100 parts per million, which is not dangerous to humans. Hackers changed this to 11,000 parts per million. This amount of SH is extremely dangerous to humans and could have affected the entire town, causing a mass of terribly sickened residents.
Water plant operators have been rapidly transforming their systems to digital programs. While these programs are a great way for engineers to monitor temperatures, chemical levels and so on. It also means that these systems can now be remotely hacked.
While authorities are unsure of the reasoning behind this attack, whether for future bribery or simply sadistic purposes. It is clear than any public amenities system is now at threat for attacks.
Hacker Prevention is one of the main features of the V-Fortress. With our Enhanced network security, monitored Firewall and U.S based Security Operations Center. We could have caught the attempted hack earlier or prevented it all together. That and our End-User Security Training could help local government employees be better prepared if a future event should happen.
If you have any questions about viLogics or what we do not hesitate to call us on (800)-473-1587 or visit www.viLogics.com
Thank you
ViLogics Fortress Team
