Published: Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Aerial view of Colonial Pipeline fuel tanks. Photo credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Fuel holding tanks are seen at Colonial Pipeline Co. s Dorsey Junction Station in Woodbine, Md. The company has shed light on some of its cybersecurity practices leading up to a hack of its systems this month that disrupted eastern U.S. gasoline supplies. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The pipeline company at the center of the most disruptive cyberattack in U.S. energy history says it followed defensive guidelines set by the government and private sector.
But a ransomware cyberattack this month still forced Colonial Pipeline Co. to shut down its 5,500-mile system, which supplies nearly half the fuel used along the U.S. East Coast. The weeklong disruption led to panic buying at gas stations and an outcry for more stringent and enforceable cybersecurity measures for the oil and gas industry.
Pipeline Hack Points to Growing Cybersecurity Risk for Energy System
Energy infrastructure has increasingly come under assault, and analysts said the attack that cut off fuel supplies this week should be a “wake-up call.”
Cars lined up for gasoline in Charlotte, N.C., on Tuesday.Credit.Logan Cyrus/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
Published May 13, 2021Updated May 18, 2021
WASHINGTON The audacious ransomware attack that shut down a major fuel pipeline and sent Americans scrambling for gasoline in the Southeast this week was not the first time hackers have disrupted America’s aging, vulnerable energy infrastructure. And it’s unlikely to be the last.