Voluntary Biden administration control system security initiative coming to water sector

The Biden administration announced Thursday it is extending a voluntary cybersecurity initiative for essential control systems in the electricity sector and pipelines to facilities that supply water across the U.S. Under the initiative, the administration is pushing participating water sector facilities to adopt detection technologies that would monitor cyber threats to industrial control systems (ICS), which automate processes such as the treatment, storage and distribution of water. It’s also urging them to more rapidly share threat data with the U.S. government. The 100-day plan will first aim to bring in larger facilities. The water sector, which includes what a senior administration official estimated at over 150,000 facilities that provide water to approximately 300 million Americans, has long been considered one of the most vulnerable in the U.S. to cyberattacks. A hack last February on a facility in Florida temporarily altered the plant’s sodium hydroxide setting to a level harmful to […]

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Preventing Cyberattacks on Water Infrastructure

To get a preview of the next possible mass casualty terrorist attack, look no further than the town – and critical infrastructure – of Oldsmar, Florida. In what was surely a Sum of All Fears moment for government officials, a cyber intrude… Continue reading Preventing Cyberattacks on Water Infrastructure

Water Plant Infrastructure Hackers Go Kinetic

The reported hack of a water processing plant in Oldsmar, Florida, has raised alarms about the security of critical infrastructure IT systems and their vulnerabilities. But for those more familiar with the security processes of these local systems, th… Continue reading Water Plant Infrastructure Hackers Go Kinetic

Investigators suggest hackers exploited weak password security to breach Florida water facility

A clearer picture of poor security practices in Oldsmar, Florida prior to the dangerous hack of its water treatment plant is beginning to emerge, even as an investigation into the matter continues one week after the incident. Three federal agencies teamed up with an organization that shares threat information between states to issue an alert late Thursday explaining how the breach, in which a hacker allegedly tried to raise sodium hydroxide levels to amounts that are harmful to humans, might have unfolded. Initial clues suggest the incident, which was detected before it amounted to a threat to public drinking water, was made possible by lax data protection strategies and exploitation of a software tool. “The cyber actors likely accessed the system by exploiting cybersecurity weaknesses, including poor password security, and an outdated operating system,” reads the alert from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Environmental […]

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Water Supply Poisoned by Hacker in Oldsmar, Fla.

A small municipal water supply was briefly tainted by a dangerous chemical: Another reminder of the risks of SCADA on the internet.
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Water Supply Poisoned by Hacker in Oldsmar, Fla.

A small municipal water supply was briefly tainted by a dangerous chemical: Another reminder of the risks of SCADA on the internet.
The post Water Supply Poisoned by Hacker in Oldsmar, Fla. appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Continue reading Water Supply Poisoned by Hacker in Oldsmar, Fla.