How to protect our critical infrastructure from attack
On February 2
nd the largest ever compilation of breached usernames and passwords was leaked online. Known as COMB, it contained 3.2 billion unique email/password pairs, including the credentials for the Oldsmar water plant in Florida (not pictured here).
Three days later an unknown attacker entered Oldsmar’s computer systems and attempted to manipulate the pH in the city’s water to dangerously high acidic levels by increasing sodium hydroxide (lye) by 100 times. Although the attack was foiled and the lye levels returned to normal, the incident highlighted the ease with which cybercriminals are increasingly able to target critical national infrastructure (CNI).