Learning from the Florida Water Hack | exida

exida Recorded Webinars

Learning from the Florida Water Hack

Recording Date: February 2021

In early February of this year a water treatment facility was compromised in Florida. The attackers successfully increased the concentration of sodium hydroxide (also known as lye) by a factor of 100 risking potential illness for the public as well as significant erosion and pipe damage. Fortunately, operators of the Oldsmar water treatment facility saw the attackers increase the concentration and were able to return the concentration to normal levels before there was any risk for harm to the public. This near-miss highlights several important trends for industrial cybersecurity: Industrial cybersecurity incidents can have major health and safety implications, Critical infrastructure makes an attractive target to a variety of hackers, Critical infrastructure is highly susceptible to cybersecurity attack. In this webinar we will review what is known so far about the attack on the Florida water system and identify practical steps that can be taken to improve the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure systems.

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About the Presenter:

Patrick O'Brien

Patrick O’Brien Patrick O’Brien is the Assistant Director of Engineering at exida, LLC, where he helps lead a team of engineers in delivering functional safety, cybersecurity, and alarm management services. He has led cybersecurity risk assessments, training courses, and other lifecycle activities for many different applications, including oil and gas, specialty chemical, critical infrastructure, machinery, and robotics. In addition to his cybersecurity role, he also provides consulting services in the areas of process safety, functional safety, and machine safety. He is a coauthor of Implementing IEC 62443: A Pragmatic Approach to Cybersecurity and the principal author of the CCPS concept book Managing Cybersecurity in the Process Industries – A Risk-based Approach. Patrick represents exida on the International Society of Automation Global Cybersecurity Alliance (ISAGCA). Mr. O’Brien graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in German Language and Culture.