In February 2021, with a few mouse clicks, the hacker remotely adjusted the chemicals in the water treatment system in Oldsmar, Fallon. If change is not seen then the waters of society will be poisoned.
The cyber-attack came in the wake of another hacker infiltrating a drinking water system serving parts of the San Francisco Bay area. Programs used to purify water were eliminated in that cyberattack. The hack was not detected until the next day.
In both attacks, hackers used the same computer program to illegally access control of water systems. In each case, they have seized it, despite obstacles we can not imagine. “
Unfortunately, the level of cyber sophistication in water systems is very different and as the sector is in such a target-rich environment, water applications for cybersecurity attacks have matured.
It helps to better understand the cyber-related challenges faced by the water sector and the population of drinking water and sewerage systems as compared to the electricity sector.
There are approximately 3,300 electric utilities in the United States. However, the water sector has about 50,000 individual community systems, more than half of which serve less than 500 customers.
The disparity between physical, financial, and cybersecurity resources in those 50,000 systems is often apparent. The sector is further divided by various compliance and regulatory structures. Many system operators find it difficult to relax their investments in the physical and cybersecurity sectors.
