Colonial Pipeline take-away: Embrace the mandates The DarkSide attack on Colonial is yet another wake-up call for companies to harden their systems against ransomware. History suggests that might not happen despite new government guidance. Credit: JIM LO SCALZO / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock Many in mainstream media have characterised the DarkSide attack on Colonial Pipeline, which operates a significant portion of the nation’s critical energy infrastructure, as a wake-up call for CIOs and CISOs. If that is the case, then they are hard of hearing as this klaxon has been sounding for many years, as company after company fends off ransomware attacks.