A hacker recently attempted to poison the water supply of Oldsmar, Florida, local law enforcement announced in a Monday press conference.
Pinellas County Bub Gualtieri said the hacker breached the water treatment facility’s computers on Friday and raised the amount of sodium hydroxide — which is used to control the water’s acidity — by an eye-popping 100 times the standard amount, WWSB reports.
Gualtieri stated that the computers were hacked at 8:00 A.M. EST and then later in the afternoon in which sodium hydroxide mixture levels were increased from 100 ppm to 11,100 ppm, prompting the plant operator to reduce the chemical.
“This is somebody who is trying, at least it appears, to do something bad. It’s a bad actor,” Gualtieri added. “Very fortunately, the operator saw it and immediately reduced it.”
“It’s not just an accident when you are taking it from 100 to 11,100 parts per million. It’s potentially serious,” he added. “If you put that amount of that substance in the drinking water that’s not a good thing.”
The plant serves approximately 15,000 Oldsmar residents.