Mysterious hacker attempted to poison water supply of Oldsmar city in Florida: Officials

A mysterious hacker recently infiltrated a computer for the water treatment system of the city of Oldsmar, Florida, in an unsuccessful attempt at what could have amounted to a mass poisoning. According to The Guardian, local and federal authorities are investigating how the hacker was able to remotely gain access to the water treatment plant and briefly increase the amount of sodium hydroxide by a factor of more than 100. It is worth mentioning that the chemical is used in small amounts to control the acidity of water but if used in large quantities, it can cause irritation, burns and other complications. 

The Pinellas County sheriff, Bob Gualtieri, on February 8 informed that a sharp-eyed supervisor noticed the measurements of the chemical suddenly changing wildly on his computer screen and promptly stepped in to reverse the action, leaving the city’s water supply unaffected. The hacker had infiltrated the computer on Friday and the suspect was able to breach Oldsmar’s computer system. Gualtieri said that the hacker briefly increased the amount of sodium hydroxide from 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million. 

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‘Public was never in danger’ 

The county sheriff added that at no time there was a “significant adverse effect” on the water being treated. He also said that importantly, the “public was never in danger”. Further, he informed that a plant worker first noticed the unusual activity at around 8am on Friday, when someone briefly accessed the system. Then about 1:30pm, someone accessed it again, took control of the mouse, directed it to the software that controls water treatment and increased the amount of sodium hydroxide. 

Florida officials have said that other safeguards in place probably would have caught the change before it reached the water supply. The remote-access system the hacker was able to use has since been disabled, the officials added. Moreover, the Sheriff’s office said that the FBI and the Secret Service are investigating. They also added that nobody has been arrested, although investigators have some leads. Other area municipalities have also been alerted about the water treatment attack. 

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