Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Cybercriminals are selling access to water treatment plants like the one hacked in Florida — here's why experts think the problem could get worse

Cybercriminals are selling access to water treatment plants like the one hacked in Florida — here's why experts think the problem could get worse

Experts expect that "we'll see more news of attack scenarios and how those attacks can be monetized" because of ongoing security vulnerabilities.
Cybercriminals in underground forums have offered to sell access to hacked systems that control US power plants and water treatment systems, according to a new report from the threat intelligence firm Intel 471. Hackers likely took advantage of common security vulnerabilities in these systems, experts say — and they fear that such attacks could become more common as bad actors find ways to monetize the hacks.

The systems that cybercriminals offered access to bore a striking resemblance to the Oldsmar, Florida water treatment plant that was compromised by a hacker last week. Law enforcement officials said an unknown intruder gained access to software used by plant managers to remotely control its systems and attempted to raise the amount of sodium hydroxide — also known as lye — in the drinking water to dangerous levels.

Intel 471 researchers were careful to note that they don't have hard evidence proving that the cybercriminals offering access to hacked industrial systems are the same ones who hacked the Oldsmar plant. But their findings illustrate broader cyber vulnerabilities in US systems that control infrastructure. For years, experts have sounded alarm bells about potential issues with these so-called Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems (or SCADA systems), which monitor and control machines in the field.

"Attacks on SCADA systems are not new," an Intel 471 spokesperson said in response to emailed questions from Insider following the report. "It is often easy for non-sophisticated threat actors to identify internet-facing SCADA systems and gain access with very little effort."

In one instance logged by Intel 471, a cybercriminal in a Telegram channel popular with hackers offered in May 2020 to sell access to a "Groundwater Recovery & Treatment System" located in Florida. The hacker claimed to have broken into software used by administrators to remotely control the system, and included a screenshot that showed levels of sodium hydroxide in the water.

The person who posted the screenshots in the Telegram channel was likely an Iranian actor, Intel 471 researchers said. The Telegram channel in question was also tied to a 2020 hack of an Israeli water reservoir. There's no evidence to suggest that this person was motivated by anything other than monetary gain and notoriety, the spokesperson said.

The researchers' findings illustrate broader weaknesses in the cyber defenses of US critical infrastructure. Many industrial control systems can be easily located using online directories like Shodan, which logs internet-connected devices. From there, experts say even low-level hackers can scour out stolen or default login credentials to try to break into the software that controls the systems.

"SCADA systems are notorious for using weak default admin credentials, non-standard ports, and other technical identifiers," the spokesperson told Insider.

Too much critical infrastructure is connected to the public internet with lax security protections, in part because of egregiously low cybersecurity budgets.

Industrial systems are a growing target for profit-driven hackers across the board. In the past year, researchers have tracked cybercriminals probing computers connected to critical infrastructure and reselling access to those computers to more sophisticated hacking groups, according to the security firm Kaspersky.

"We believe the malicious actors have had, for quite a while, access to not only industrial organizations but also lots of information on their technological processes," Evgeny Goncharov, Kaspersky's head of Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, said in a webinar Thursday. "Probably in the near future we'll see more news of attack scenarios and how those attacks can be monetized."

The FBI published a joint advisory with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Thursday advising critical infrastructure agencies to install the latest version of Windows and urging them to be on the lookout for suspicious logins to their remote access software.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×