Colonial Pipeline, an important American fuel pipeline operator, shut its entire network, the source of nearly half of the U.S. East Coast’s fuel supply, after a ransomware cyber attack.
The incident is one of the most disruptive digital ransom operations ever reported and has drawn attention to how vulnerable U.S. energy infrastructure is to hackers. A prolonged shutdown of the line would cause prices to spike at gasoline pumps ahead of peak summer driving season, a potential blow to U.S. consumers and the economy.”This is as close as you can get to the jugular of infrastructure in the United States,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, research professor and managing director of the Climate Policy Lab. “It’s not a major pipeline. It’s the pipeline.”
The attack follows on the heels of the Biden administration promises to address infrastructure cyber vulnerabilities.
The attack comes amid rising concerns over the cybersecurity vulnerabilities in America’s critical infrastructure following recent incidents, and after the Biden administration last month launched an effort to beef up cybersecurity in the nation’s power grid, calling for industry leaders to install technologies that could thwart attacks on the electricity supply.Colonial, which transports more than 100 million gallons of gasoline and other fuel daily from Houston to the New York Harbor, according to its website, said it learned of the cyberattack on Friday, causing them to pause operations.”In response, we proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which has temporarily halted all pipeline operations, and affected some of our IT systems,” the company said in a statement.
It’s not clear how long the firm’s pipelines would be shut down.
The shutdown will affect other pipeline operations such as the Buckeye and Twin Oaks Pipeline, which runs through the New York City-Long Island area and Maine, FEMA said.The company, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, said it hired an outside cybersecurity firm to investigate the nature and scope of the attack and has also contacted law enforcement and federal agencies.”Colonial Pipeline is taking steps to understand and resolve this issue. At this time, our primary focus is the safe and efficient restoration of our service and our efforts to return to normal operation. This process is already underway, and we are working diligently to address this matter and to minimize disruption to our customers and those who rely on Colonial Pipeline,” the company said.
The identity of the hacker is not yet known.
An administration official said that an investigation into the episode was in the very early stages, and that it was unclear whether the hacker was a nation or a criminal group. At times, they work in concert. But so far, a senior administration official said, there was no evidence that a nation-state was involved in the attack.
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