A hacker briefly broke into a Florida citys water system and attempted to increase the amount of lye, a potentially dangerous chemical, in the water supply by 11,000%, local law enforcement said.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said an unknown hacker broke into the computer system for a water treatment plant in Oldsmar, Florida, on Friday, which serves about 15,000 people near Tampa.
A worker at the plant initially noticed someone remotely accessing a computer terminal around 8 a.m. but didnt raise alarms as the plants systems have software that allows some employees to access the computers remotely to troubleshoot issues. About 1:30 p.m., however, the worker again saw someone access the computer terminal for about five minutes, opening various windows on the screen before the amount of sodium hydroxide, or lye, was altered from about 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million.
Sodium hydroxide, which is also used in liquid drain cleaner, is typically used in small amounts to control acidity and remove some heavy metals from drinking water. At higher levels, it can be dangerous if ingested.
Im not a chemist, Gualtieri said at a news conference. But I can tell you what I do know is if you put that amount of that substance into the drinking water, its not a good thing.
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The worker immediately reduced the level of the chemical back to normal after the hacker left the system and informed his superiors, who contacted law enforcement.
Gualtieri described the event as an awful intrusion but said the treatment facility had redundancies in place and that the public was never in danger.
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