The lack of a firewall and a password that was the same for each employee are also signs that the department’s security regimen wasn’t as tight as it could have been. Windows 7 also provides fewer security protections than Windows 10. In January, Microsoft ended support for Windows 7, a move that ended security updates for the operating system. The revelations illustrate the lack of security rigor found inside many critical infrastructure environments. It said: AdvertisementĮmployees in Oldsmar’s water treatment department and city manager’s office didn’t immediately respond to phone messages seeking comment for this post. Further, all computers shared the same password for remote access and appeared to be connected directly to the Internet without any type of firewall protection installed.Ī private industry notification published by the FBI provided a similar assessment. All computers used by water plant personnel were connected to the SCADA system and used the 32-bit version of the Windows 7 operating system. The unidentified actors accessed the water treatment plant’s SCADA controls via remote access software, TeamViewer, which was installed on one of several computers the water treatment plant personnel used to conduct system status checks and to respond to alarms or any other issues that arose during the water treatment process. What’s more, the computer had no firewall installed and used a password that was shared among employees for remotely logging in to city systems with the TeamViewer application.
The tampering could have caused severe sickness or death had it not been for safeguards the city has in place.Īccording to an advisory from the state of Massachusetts, employees with the Oldsmar facility used a computer running Windows 7 to remotely access plant controls known as a SCADA-short for “supervisory control and data acquisition”-system. After gaining remote access to a computer that controlled equipment inside the Oldsmar water treatment plant, the unknown intruder increased the amount of sodium hydroxide-a caustic chemical better known as lye-by a factor of 100. Further Reading Computer intruder tried to poison Florida city’s drinking water with lyeThe computer intrusion happened last Friday in Oldsmar, a Florida city of about 15,000 that’s roughly 15 miles northwest of Tampa.
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