Hackers destroyed a pump used by a US water company after gaining unauthorized access to the control system that controls the equipment, a computer security expert said.

Joe Weiss, managing partner of Applied Control Solutions, said the threat arose after hackers breached the manufacturer of control and data acquisition systems used by many companies, and also stole user logins and passwords belonging to customers. Unknown hackers used Russian IP addresses.

Weiss referred to an official government document from the state in which the water utility is located. It was compiled on November 10, two days after the hack was discovered. The document states that several weeks ago the company experienced unexplained problems with its computer system, which led to damage.

“For one or two months there were minor problems with remote access to the SCADA system,” Weiss said during an interview, he also quoted parts of the document. He said the hackers were able to disable one of the water pumps by "constantly" turning either the SCADA system or the pump itself on and off.

Weiss noted that he https://tiltbetcasino.co.uk/bonus/ received this document on the condition of non-disclosure of the name of the water supply company and the state in which it is located. Although the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the facility is located in Springfield, Illinois. Weiss released details of the attack on Wednesday because he wanted to draw attention to the fact that the US government is failing to secure potentially vulnerable targets.

“This is a very serious issue, only more serious is what is not mentioned in the reports,” Weiss said. “What’s going on in the Ministry of National Security? Why aren’t people warned??»

He said he doesn’t know of any businesses or SCADA operators who had any knowledge of this attack.

After the news was published, Peter Boogaard, a spokesman for the Department of National Defense, wrote in an email: “The Department of National Defense and the FBI are gathering facts regarding a report of a pump failure at a facility in Springfield, Illinois. At the moment, there is no officially confirmed data on the threat to public safety and potentially vulnerable objects".

A security researcher with no ties to Weiss said there was little doubt that everything happened as described in the report.

“This is not surprising,” said Rick Moy, president and CEO of NSS Labs. “Sometimes things are available on the Internet that shouldn’t be open.”. So it’s quite possible that the attack actually happened.”.

Weiss said it is likely that hackers have obtained SCADA client passwords, which means other industrial plants could or have already been hacked. The identities of the hackers have not yet been established, as have their goals. Perhaps it was national intelligence, or a prank by hackers, or an elaborate scheme by one of the criminal groups.

“Until we find those who did this, we will not understand their motive,” he said.
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