Today the Federal Bureau of Inquiry announced that the
attack last week on a bleach plant in Delano, GA was the act of the
anti-chlorine terrorist group, Students for Immediate Neutralization of
Chlorine Technology and Energy Reversion (SFINCTER). Johnathan Quest, the FBI
spokesman, said that the group has not yet claimed responsibility for the
attack. The determination that they were behind the attack was made based upon
cyber forensic evidence obtained over the last week.
Dade Murphy, of DragonFire Cyber, who assisted the FBI
analysts on this case, told reporters that the attackers used a known
vulnerability in the third-party virtual private network (VPN) that was bundled
with the Robotron vFernbedienung, remote DCS software that was being used by Bleichen
Chemical to operate the control system that was used in last week’s attack.
This vulnerability allowed the attackers to access the login credentials of
multiple employees at the facility. With those credentials, the attackers had
complete control of the distributed control system used at the facility.
In related news, Eric Schlamm, spokesman for the Delano
Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) told reporters today that the facility that
normally received industrial grade bleach from the now closed Bleichen plant
for wastewater disinfection was remaining open due to the efforts of the Georgia
National Guard’s 555th Transportation Battalion. They were supplying truck
loads of bleach from a facility in Alabama. Schlamm said that because so many
industrial facilities in Delano were not operating, the WWTP was operating at
reduced capacity, so the once-a-day delivery by the famed Triple Nickels was
adequate to keep the plant operating. That would change when the Georgia
shelter-in-place order for the COVID-19 outbreak was lifted.
Carl Scheele, Bleichen Plant Manager, told reporters by
phone that engineers were just now getting into the plant to inspect the
damage. “It will be at least a week before we can start to formulate a restart
plan because of the damage caused when Reactor 2 exploded” he said.
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