Friday, February 12, 2021

How Hackers Tried to Add Dangerous Lye into a City's Water Supply - Scientific American

On February 5, an unknown cyberattacker tried to poison the water supply of Oldsmar, Fla. City officials say the targeted water-treatment facility had a software remote-access system that let staff control the plant’s computers from a distance. The hacker entered the system and set it to massively increase sodium hydroxide levels in the water.

How much of a broader threat might attacks like this pose to public facilities, and what can be done to protect them? Scientific American asked Ben Buchanan, a professor specializing in cybersecurity and statecraft at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Publisher: Scientific American
Author: Sophie Bushwick
Twitter: @sciam
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And here's another article:

Hacked Florida water plant reused passwords and had aging Windows installations - CNN
Publisher: CNN
Date: 2021-02-11T16:01:39Z
Author: Brian Fung and Alex Marquardt CNN
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How the US Lost to Hackers - The New York Times

You might think you're a patriot now, he wanted to warn them, but one day soon you too could wake up and find you're just another mercenary in a cyber arms race gone horribly wrong.

Three decades ago, the United States spawned, then cornered, the market for hackers, their tradecraft, and their tools. But over the past decade, its lead has been slipping, and those same hacks have come boomeranging back on us.

Months after Mr. Evenden returned home, in 2016, the N.S.A.'s own hacking tools were hacked, by a still unknown assailant. Those tools were picked up first by North Korea, then Russia, in the most destructive cyberattack in history.

Date: 2021-02-06T10:00:11.000Z
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U.S. Water Supply Has Few Protections Against Hacking - WSJ

A Florida city whose water system was hacked last week said Friday that it completed a federally mandated security-risk assessment three months ago, but hadn't yet integrated the findings into its emergency plans.

The hacking incident—occurring after a security review—has thrown into stark relief a vulnerability of the more than 50,000 community water systems that supply most Americans with their drinking water: they don't have to meet any national standard for cybersecurity.

Publisher: WSJ
Date: 2021-02-12T18:23:00.000Z
Author: Rebecca Smith
Twitter: @WSJ
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Were you following this:

Hackers trying to steal your unemployment | | kctv5.com

Nashville ( WSMV ) -- Criminals are hacking into people's accounts who are filing for unemployment and trying to steal their money. News 4 talked with several people who want answers, so we went to the Tennessee Department of Labor to answer those questions.

News4 Investigates confirmed she's just one of the dozens of people whose account with the state has been hacked, leaving them unable to claim their benefits.

"What do you think about the fact days later you still can't get into your account?" News 4 asked Bell.

Publisher: KCTV Kansas City
Date: Click here for updates on this story
Author: Lindsay Bramson
Twitter: @KCTV5
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Dark web analysis shows high demand for hackers - Help Net Security

Positive Technologies' experts have analyzed the ten most active forums on the dark web , which offer services for hacking websites, buying and selling databases, and accessing web resources.

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The research found that in the vast majority of cases on these forums, most individuals are looking for a hacker, and in 7 out of 10 ads, their main goal is to gain access to a web resource.

Only seven percent of forum messages analyzed included individuals offering to hack websites. The remaining three percent of the messages analysed were aimed at promoting hacking tools, programs and finding like-minded people to share hacking experience.

Publisher: Help Net Security
Date: 2021-02-10T08:58:15 00:00
Twitter: @helpnetsecurity
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FBI Called In After Hacker Tries To Poison Tampa-Area City's Water With Lye : NPR

Officials in Oldsmar, Fla., say residents were never at risk from a recent computer hack at its water treatment plant. But they say they're taking steps to ensure it can't happen again. deepblue4you/E+/Getty Images hide caption

It started with a cursor moving on its own, sliding across a computer screen at the water treatment plant in Oldsmar, Fla. Someone had taken remote control of a plant operator's machine – and in just a few minutes, they increased the level of sodium hydroxide in the city's drinking water by a factor of 100. After spiking the caustic substance to unsafe levels, the hacker immediately left the system.

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Publisher: NPR.org
Date: 2021-02-09
Twitter: @NPR
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Cybersecurity experts warn hackers may try to disrupt vaccine distribution systems | WREG.com

NEW YORK ( NewsNation Now ) — As the government prepares to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to U.S. retailers and pharmacies, cybersecurity experts are warning hackers will instantly get more chances to disrupt the vaccine distribution system.

Retailers and pharmacies nationwide say they're preparing for a fresh round of “bot” attacks expected to target the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain.

These so-called “scalper bots” are automated programs know for cutting digital lines. They stockpile limited-supplies of high-demand items within milliseconds of their release.

Publisher: WREG.com
Date: 2021-02-12T13:00:34 00:00
Author: Tom Negovan and Nexstar Media Wire
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