Greater Preparedness and Security in Light of Oldsmar, Regardless of Intent or Motivation

Risk management firm, The Gate 15 Company reviews the February 5, 2021 blended threat (cyber-physical) incident at the Oldsmar, Florida Water Treatment Plant in a recent blog post titled, “Blended Threats: Did Florida’s Cyber Attack Whet Your Appetite for Better Preparedness and Security?” The post highlights the blended threat concerns and reviews some best practices and mitigation actions drawn from WaterISAC’s 15 Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Water and Wastewater Utilities for greater preparedness.

The post specifically highlights the importance of the following fundamentals:

• #6 – Install Independent Cyber-Physical Safety Systems
• #15 – Participate in Information Sharing and Collaboration Communities
• #3 – Minimize Control System Exposure
• #4 – Enforce User Access Controls

Read the post at Gate15.

In other blended threat news, while attribution is still undetermined, it seems the Oldsmar incident has garnered attention from proclaimed extremists attempting to disseminate discord. Rinaldo Nazzaro, founder of a violent white supremacist group called the Base, suggested in a Telegram post “that the water poisoning plot was a possible template for something larger.” Read more NYTimes.