Ransomware disrupts Florida’s most vital services

Feb. 2021: Although not a ransomware attack, a hack affecting the water treatment plant in Oldsmar, a Tampa Bay-area town with about 15,000 residents, exposing the vulnerability of Florida’s critical infrastructure. Someone broke into the plant’s computer system and changed the level of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, from about 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said. That chemical, a main ingredient in liquid drain cleaners, is used to control water acidity and remove metals from drinking water in treatment plants. A plant operator caught the change and reversed it before anyone was poisoned, and officials said other safeguards would have protected the water supply if the plant operator hadn’t acted. But at a March meeting of the Florida Cabinet, FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen said hackers gained access to the system because of “extremely lax” cybersecurity measures.