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Fuel deliveries to the east coast of the United States have been brought to a standstill by cybercriminals that have gained access to Colonial Pipelines’ networks and forced the company to shut down its distribution system. After two decades of trying to make a voluntary partnership with industry work, this incident demonstrates that neither thoughts, prayers, nor information sharing is sufficient. It is time for the federal government to exercise its existing authority to regulate the cybersecurity of pipelines.
Fuel deliveries to the east coast of the United States have been brought to a standstill by cybercriminals that have gained access to Colonial Pipelines’ networks and forced the company to shut down its distribution system. This attack comes on top of a ransomware attack on natural gas infrastructure last year and an explicit warning [PDF] from the Director of National Intelligence in 2019 that China had the ability to disrupt our pipeline infrastructure.
Introduction
Recognizing that a lack of affordable, high-speed internet access has hampered economic growth and fueled inequality, the Joe Biden administration’s recently released infrastructure plan calls for investing $100 billion in the nation’s digital infrastructure. This amount is in line with third-party estimates for building last-mile fiber connectivity to most homes and businesses, but reducing prices and increasing adoption requires a radically different model for the internet service provider (ISP) market. The Biden administration and its allies in Congress should adopt open access requirements as a precondition for any federal investments. Without a massive investment to build out the country’s open fiber infrastructure and a new set of rules to govern its use, the United States risks being left behind.