US investigators are studying a computer attack in 2000 that pumped raw sewage into an Australian water supply. So far it is the only case in which an intruder has deliberately used a digital control system to attack public infrastructure. In Mar-Apr 2000, engineer Vitek Boden used remote radio transmissions to take control of the sewage pumping station at Pacific Paradise, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. While trying to get a consultant's job to clear up the pollution he was causing, he released hundreds of thousands of litres of raw sewage into public waterways on 46 separate occasions. Boden was jailed for two years. The incident shows how easy it was to break in and "how moderately he (Boden) used his power".
Related News: Source, 11 Feb 2002, USA: Utilities Face Threats from Chemical Attacks and Cyberterrorism, http://www.wsscc.org/source/weekly/02056.html#us...

Contact: Janelle Bryant, Investigations Manager, Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, nqic@env.qld.gov.au

Source: The Age, 8 Jul 2002