And in a lot of cases, all of them have a very small IT staff. “I deal with a lot of municipal water utilities for small, medium and large-sized cities. We have known for a long time that municipal water utilities are extremely underfunded and under-resourced, and that makes them a soft target for cyber attacks,” said Lesley Carhart, principal incident responder at Dragos Security, which specializes in industrial control systems.
"In the industry, we were all expecting this to happen. No federal reporting requirement exists, and state and local rules vary widely. Suspicious incidents are rarely reported, and usually chalked up to mechanical or procedural errors, experts say. Treatment plants are typically cash-strapped, and lack the cybersecurity depth of the power grid and nuclear plants.Ī local sheriff's startling announcement Monday that the water supply of Oldsmar, population 15,000, was briefly in jeopardy last week exhibited uncharacteristic transparency. A hacker’s botched attempt to poison the water supply of a small Florida city is raising alarms about just how vulnerable the nation's water systems may be to attacks by more sophisticated intruders. (Pinellas County Sheriff's Office via AP) Authorities say a hacker gained access to Oldsmar's water treatment plant in an unsuccessful attempt to taint the water supply with a caustic chemical. In this screen shot from a YouTube video posted by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri speaks during a news conference as Oldsmar, Fla., Mayor Eric Seidel, left, listens, Monday, Feb.
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