Central Florida city officials say our water systems are safe after someone hacked Florida’s Gulf Coast system. An employee who was monitoring the system in Oldsmar caught the hack before anything could happen. The person successfully hacked into the water system’s computer and tried to poison an entire city by attempting to add dangerous amounts of lye. “You can go to the dark net – I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the dark net, but you want to shower afterwards because literally everything is for sale in the dark net,” said cyber security expert Ron Sanders after the hack, the water utilities became alerted across central Florida “I’m sure this has sent a wave of e-mail about the utility systems everywhere. Yes, I think it’s a real reminder for the general public about what utilities are struggling with in the cybersecurity world, ”said OUC’s Tim Trudell. Unlike the water system in the small town in Pinellas County, Sanford’s water system cannot be accessed remotely, which provides an extra layer of protection. “But these people are very creative and we need to be vigilant for updates to these systems and we are working on them as we speak,” said Bill Marcous of the City of Sanford. City Manager of Altamonte Springs According to Frank Martz, the same firewall that is used to protect sensitive information for the police is also used to protect their water system, library and other information. “Our baseball registration software is behind a firewall because that’s exactly what hackers do – they’re looking for people who’ve been careless, who just weren’t as creative or resourceful as they were,” Martz said. WESH 2 News also collected the following details from Orange County Utilities: “Providing Safety and Reliability Water is a top priority for Orange County Utilities. The situation in Oldsmar shows that cyber security attacks require constant vigilance. Orange County Utilities has a multi-tiered strategy to prevent and prevent a similar incident respond if one should occur, which includes 24/7 human and automated controls of the water system, regular risk and resilience assessments for cybersecurity systems, and any necessary upgrades to keep the system safe. As a member ied by WaterISAC (Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center) and other organizations, we receive expanded threat intelligence reports that alert us to potential risks and enable us to plan and respond accordingly. Orange County Utilities will continue to work hard to protect the community and maintain the public’s trust. Cocoa City also announced cybersecurity details: “Cocoa City has robust cybersecurity protection systems. There are a number of alarms and logs based on the Homeland Security Policy. We are confident we will We are aware of any problems in our system and can take the necessary action to correct them immediately. Our customers are our top priority, so monitoring our systems and controls to provide this water is of paramount importance. ” Officials say, “The computer system that the City of Melbourne uses to monitor and control our water treatment process is not connected to the Internet. Our water production plant has its own fiber optic network that is integrated into the SCADA (Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition) monitoring program. All of our data, program updates, etc. are done manually at the factory. We have therefore never attempted hacking at our plant. “WESH 2 News also spoke to officials in Seminole County, whose water system supplies approximately 130,000 people. Terry McCue, of the Seminole County’s Environment Department, told WESH 2 News about some of the safety precautions in place, “We have 24/7 water treatment operators at our SCADA desk, remotely controlling our systems. The systems are monitored so we can see what happens. There are several alarms that look for different chemical concentrations in several places. ” McCue said: In a tweet on Wednesday, Florida Senator Marco Rubio said, “The recent cyberattack on a water treatment plant in Florida should be a wake-up call to the growing threat that cybercriminals and / or malicious foreign actors pose to our country’s critical infrastructure . ”
OLDSMAR, Fla. –
Central Florida city officials say our water systems are safe after someone hacked Florida’s Gulf Coast system.
An employee who was monitoring the system in Oldsmar caught the hack before anything could happen.
The person successfully hacked into the water system’s computer and tried to poison an entire city by attempting to add dangerous amounts of lye.
“You can go to the dark net – I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the dark net, but you want to shower afterwards because literally everything is for sale on the dark net,” said cyber security expert Ron Sanders.
After the hack, water utilities across central Florida became aware of it.
“I’m sure this has sent a wave of emails across all utility systems everywhere. Yes, I think it’s a real reminder to the general public of what utility companies have to offer in the cybersecurity world,” said Tim Trudell by OUC.
Unlike the water system in the small town in Pinellas County, Sanford’s water system cannot be accessed remotely, which provides an extra layer of protection.
“But these people are very creative and we need to be vigilant for updates to these systems and we are working on them as we speak,” said Bill Marcous of the City of Sanford.
Frank Martz, City Manager of Altamonte Springs, says the same firewall that is used to protect sensitive information for the police is also used to protect their water system, library, and other information.
“Our baseball registration software is behind a firewall because that’s what hackers do – they’re looking for people who have been negligent, who just weren’t as creative or resourceful as they are,” Martz said.
WESH 2 News also collected the following details from Orange County Utilities:
“Providing safe and reliable water is a top priority for Orange County Utilities. The situation in Oldsmar shows that cyber security attacks require constant vigilance. Orange County Utilities has a tiered strategy in place to prevent a similar incident and respond if one should occur. This includes monitoring the water system around the clock with staff and automated controls, regularly performing risk and resilience analyzes for cybersecurity systems, and performing any necessary upgrades to ensure the security of the system. As a member of WaterISAC (Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center) and other organizations, we receive advanced threat intelligence reports that alert us to potential risks and enable us to plan and respond accordingly. Orange County Utilities will continue to work hard to protect the community and maintain the public’s trust. “
The City of Cocoa also provided details on cybersecurity:
“The City of Kakao has robust cybersecurity protection systems in place. There are a number of alarms and protocols that have been developed based on the Homeland Security Policy. We are confident that we are aware of all the problems that are occurring and occurring in our system can.” We can take the necessary steps to correct these issues immediately. Delivering safe and reliable drinking water to our customers is our top priority. Therefore, monitoring our systems and controls to deliver this water is of paramount importance. “
In Melbourne, officials had the following to say:
“The computer system that the City of Melbourne uses to monitor and control our water treatment and production process is not connected to the internet. Our water production plant has its own fiber optic network that is integrated into the SCADA (Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition) monitoring program. All of our data, program updates, etc. are done manually at the factory. We have therefore never attempted hacking on our system. “
WESH 2 News also spoke to officials in the Seminole District, whose water system supplies approximately 130,000 people.
Terry McCue of the Seminole County’s Environmental Services reported to WESH 2 News about some of the safety precautions in place.
“We have water treatment operators at our SCADA desk around the clock, where we control our systems remotely. The systems are monitored so we can see what is happening. There are several alarms that look for different chemical concentrations in several places “said McCue.
In a tweet on Wednesday Florida Senator Marco Rubio said, “The recent cyberattack on a water treatment plant in Florida should be a wake-up call to the growing threat that cybercriminals and / or malicious foreign actors pose to our country’s critical infrastructure.”