Quote:Authorities in Oldsmar, Fla., are investigating after someone hijacked the computer system at the city’s water treatment facility and tried to drive up the water’s sodium hydroxide content to poisonous levels. The targeted plant is the primary source of drinking water for the city’s businesses and its 15,000 residents.

During a press conference Monday, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said that a hacker gained access to the plant’s control systems last Friday—not once but twice. Many water facilities now use internet-connected remote access programs that allow operators to monitor and manipulate water systems from afar. The hacker initially broke into this system Friday morning, but the activity wasn’t flagged as suspicious because supervisors regularly access the system remotely and it was assumed that this is what had occurred, officials said.

During a second intrusion later that afternoon, however, an on-duty plant operator witnessed the hacker “opening various functions in the system that control the amount of sodium hydroxide in the water.” Sodium hydroxide (also known as lye), is a corrosive element commonly used in small doses to ward off pipe decay in water systems. In high doses, lye leads to very serious health problems like blindness and death. The hacker, whoever they were, was essentially trying to turn the city’s water supply into Drano.

(02-09-2021, 11:15 AM)mothered Wrote: I'm at a loss as to why anyone would do such a thing.

Did they even think that they'd also put friends and family at risk?