Hacker Tried to Overload Florida City’s Water System with Sodium Hydroxide
February 10th, 2021Via: Daily Mail:
The hacker who breached the system managed to briefly increase the amount of sodium hydroxide by a factor of one hundred (from 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million), according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.
Sodium hydroxide, also called lye, is used to treat water acidity but the compound is also found in cleaning supplies such as soaps and drain cleaners.
It can cause irritation, burns and other complications in larger quantities.
Authorities say a supervisor saw the chemical being tampered with and was able to intervene and immediately reverse it.
Gualtieri insists the public was never in danger but admitted the intruder took ‘the sodium hydroxide up to dangerous levels’.
The city of Oldsmar, which has a population of about 15,000, is located about 15 miles from Tampa.
