Drinking water utility cellular routers hacked
- Event Year
- 2016
- Reliability
- Confirmed
- Country
- United States
- Industry
- Water/Waste Water
- Attack Type
- Untargeted Attack
Description
Documented in a 2020 Journal of the American Water Works Association review, this 2016 incident saw cellular field routers at a US drinking-water utility compromised through default credentials, allowing an outside actor to alter chemical-dosing setpoints. Operator alarms reverted the changes before any treated-water effects.
Impact
No contaminated water was distributed. The utility replaced the affected routers and migrated to a private-APN cellular profile.
Sources
- A Review of Cybersecurity Incidents in the Water Sector - Journal of Environmental Engineering
- https://www.circleofblue.org/2017/water-management/water-utility-cyberattack-rings-hefty-data-charges/
Source list compiled from OTCAD (Stash Kempinski / Secura, GPL-3.0). Description is risidata's own prose.