Kiev. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – February 09, 2021 – International News
Unknown individuals have tried to increase the level of sodium hydroxide in the water more than 100 times, said the sheriff of Pinellas County, Florida, Bob Gualtieri at a press conference.
Sodium hydroxide is added in small amounts to tap water because this alkali increases the pH and also reduces the amount of lead and other heavy metals in the liquid. However, at high concentrations it causes skin and eye irritation as well as chemical burns.
An employee of the Oldsmar water treatment plant noticed on the morning of February 5 that his mouse cursor strangely moved on the computer screen, out of his control. At first he did not worry; The company used TeamViewer remote access software, which allows employees to share screens and troubleshoot problems, and its boss often connected to a computer to monitor the company’s systems.
But a few hours later, according to police, the plant’s operator noticed that his mouse was again out of his control. The cursor began to click on the controls of the water treatment plant. For a few seconds, the attacker tried to change the level of sodium hydroxide in tap water, also known as alkali or caustic soda, changing the settings from 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million.
According to city officials, the operator quickly detected the intrusion and returned the sodium hydroxide to normal. They say that even if he did not do so, the poisoned water would take 24 to 36 hours to reach the city’s population.
Bob Gualtieri, sheriff of Pinellas County, Florida, of which Oldsmar is a part, said the hacker appeared to have compromised TeamViewer’s software at the water treatment plant to gain remote access to the target computer, and that online diaries confirmed the operator’s capture. But the sheriff had nothing to say about how the hacker gained access to TeamViewer or gained initial access to the enterprise network.
He also did not provide details on how the attacker penetrated the so-called network of operational technologies, which controls the physical equipment in industrial control systems and is usually separated from the Internet-connected IT network.
Gualteri said the city’s judicial investigators, as well as the FBI and the Secret Service, are looking for answers to these questions. He added that officials had asked all government organizations in the greater Tampa Bay area to review their security protocols.
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