Fuel giant Colonial Pipeline temporarily shut down IT systems controlling its gas and diesel pipeline operations after discovering evidence of a ransomware attack on its networks. The firm is the largest pipeline system for moving gas and diesel products in the United States, delivering more than 100 million gallons of fuel each day to customers along the East Coast and extending to Texas. In a statement, Colonial Pipeline confirmed that it “proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which has temporarily halted all pipeline operations and affected some of our IT systems.”
A DHS spokesperson indicated that the incident was triggered by a ransomware attack. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is working with Colonial Pipeline to respond to the attack and law enforcement is involved. President Joe Biden also has been briefed on the situation. “The federal government is working actively to assess the implications of this incident, avoid disruption to supply, and help the company restore pipeline operations as quickly as possible,” the White House spokesperson said.
Sources:
- CyberScoop: Cyberattack Disrupts Colonial Pipeline, Which Transports 100 Million Gallons of Fuel Daily
- Federal News Network: Major US Pipeline Halts Operations After Ransomware Attack
- GovInfoSecurity: Colonial Pipeline Confirms Ransomware Causing Disruptions
- Wired: The Colonial Pipeline Hack Is a New Extreme for Ransomware
- ZDNet: Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack Shuts Down Pipeline that Supplies 45% of East Coast’s Fuel
- ZDNet: Ransomware Just Got Very Real. And It’s Likely to Get Worse
- Security Week: Colonial Pipeline Struggles to Restart After Ransomware Attack
- Security Week: Cyberattack Forces Shutdown of Major U.S. Pipeline
