Several protective measures in place to protect the water system

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – JEA wishes to reassure its customers that the water treated in public service facilities is drinkable due to the layers of protocols in place.

At JEA’s Downtown Water Treatment Facility, Kevin Holbrooks is the Director of Environmental Compliance, and it’s his job to make sure the city’s water is safe. He said the attempt to poison drinking water at a treatment facility in the town of Oldsmar, Pinellas County, is cause for concern.

“We know people are constantly trying to do this all the time. It is a known fact. The fact that a hacker has made it through its security is a worrying thing, ”said Holbrooks.

Authorities said a hacker gained access to the Oldsmar water treatment plant in an unsuccessful attempt to contaminate the water supply with a caustic chemical. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Monday someone may have breached a computer system for the Oldsmar water treatment plant on Friday. Gualtieri said the hacker briefly increased the amount of laundry by a factor of more than 100. The sheriff said a supervisor saw the chemical tampered with and was able to step in and reverse it.

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Holbrooks said JEA has several guarantees in place.

“Our systems are monitored 24/7. The feed rate is remotely controlled and can be controlled from the factory site. We operate on site, checking everything on a daily basis. We have people in the field monitoring conditions in the field, as well as remote sensors throughout our distribution system, ”said Holbrooks.

JEA also has lab technicians and scientists who constantly test and analyze water samples to make sure the water is safe to drink. In fact, on average, water is tested over 45,000 times a year.

Regarding the computer system used to pump water and add chemicals to the water to make it drinkable, JEA could not provide specific details without compromising on safety, however, the utility provided a statement that reads as follows:

“In order to address risks that could impact the security and reliability of services, JEA’s security program has a multi-layered defense strategy. The JEA security program includes, but is not limited to, managing vulnerabilities, monitoring the system, and actively responding to these threats. These safeguards ensure that JEA actively maintains a highly secure control system.

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“JEA has also put in place safeguards to protect its water system. Water treatment facilities are monitored 24/7, and water testing is mandated and regulated by the state. On average each year, JEA collects and analyzes more than 45,000 water samples. “

US Senator Marco from Florida tweeted on Monday that what happened in Oldsmar must be treated as a matter of national security.

As JEA continues to monitor water quality, JEA officials said they will continue to monitor the investigation in Oldsmar to see if they can learn any lessons from this security breach.

By around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, more than 7 million computers around the world had been attacked by hackers.

Cyber ​​security expert Chris Hamer said hackers don’t necessarily attack personal computers.

“It could be power plants, municipal water supply utilities, public transportation systems, law enforcement hospitals,” Hamer said. “Their intention is either to take control of the system so that they can ransom it, to break into the accounting system for reimbursement or to eliminate their bill, or to increase everyone’s bill for mischief, or they visit to see what they can see. “

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In the case of the Oldsmar water system hack, investigators said the origin of the attack was not immediately clear. Hamer said there was a chance the hacker could have entered the system through a malicious email or an insecure remote desktop program.

“They’re on the internet all the time, and they’re constantly ringing the answering doorbell, and in this case most programs respond by identifying the actual process, so once that gets cataloged, these people keep trying different. passwords until they come in, ”Hamer said.

So if a system has weak security or no security, Hamer said, it doesn’t take much effort to infiltrate the system.