Former Worker Will get Jail for Drunken Water Plant Hack

On March 27, 2019, an Ellsworth, Kansas, water plant operator discovered the power shut down and his distant entry terminated. 

He drove to the water remedy facility and found that somebody had shut down the power’s cleansing and disinfecting procedures. 

The incident was traced again to former worker Wyatt Travnichek, who used a shared password to shut down the Put up Rock Rural Water District along with his cellphone.

Travnichek, 23, solely labored for the water utility for one yr till he resigned in January 2019. 

Whereas Travnicheck pleaded responsible, he stated he was too drunk to recollect what occurred. 

Nonetheless, the previous worker will spend a yr in jail for tampering with public water and reckless injury.

The system provides some 1,500 prospects in central Kansas with water, in keeping with the Kansas Metropolis Star. 

The incident highlights the chance operators run when sharing passwords. 

Travnichek was dealing with as much as 20 years in federal jail and a $250,000 tremendous for tampering with a public water system, and as much as 5 years and one other $250,000 for reckless injury to a protected pc throughout unauthorized entry.