Cyber ​​attack forced the shutdown of the largest pipeline network in the United States

A cyberattack has forced the shutdown of one of the largest pipelines in the United States, in what appears to be an attempt to disrupt vulnerable energy infrastructure. The pipeline transports refined gasoline and jet fuel along the country’s east coast from Texas to New York.

The system operator, Colonial pipeline, said in a statement on Friday that he had closed his 8,850 kilometers of gas pipeline, which carries 45% of the East Coast’s fuel supplies, in an effort to contain the attack on their computer networks, as stated The New York Times.

The pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels per day. It transports refined gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from the Gulf Coast to New York Harbor and the city’s major airports. Most of it goes to the main storage tanks, and with the low power consumption of the coronavirus pandemic, that’s the attack is unlikely to cause immediate disruption.

In the statement quoted by the New York Times, the company said it learned on Friday that it was “the victim of a cybersecurity attack.” Such an attack could be a Malware that has disrupted your operations or ransomware requiring payment to unlock your files or computer systems.

“In response, we have proactively shut down some systems to contain the threat, which temporarily halted all pipeline operations and affected some of our IT operations, ”the company said.

He added that he had contacted the security forces and other federal agencies. The FBI conducts these types of investigations, but critical infrastructure is the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Agency.

The leak comes just a few months after two major attacks on American computer networks: the intrusion of SolarWinds by the main Russian intelligence service, and another against one Microsoft’s messaging service attributed to Chinese hackers. The two attacks revealed the vulnerability of networks on which government and business depend.

While they appeared to be targeting, at least initially, the theft of emails and other data, the nature of the intrusions created “Rear doors” which, according to experts, could eventually allow attacks on physical infrastructure. So far, the two attacks don’t appear to have led to anything other than data theft, according to the New York Times.

The government of the President of the United States, Joe bidenannounced last month sanctions against Russia by SolarWinds, and should emit a decree adopting measures to secure critical infrastructure, including a demand to improve the safety of providers who provide services to the federal government, The New York Times reported.

The United States has long maintained that Russia has implemented malicious code on electrical networks, and the North American country responded by introducing a similar code on the Russian network.

However, actual attacks on energy systems are rare. About ten years ago Iran blamed for attack on Saudi oil company computer systems Aramco, which destroyed 30,000 computers. This attack, which appeared to be a response to the US-Israel attack on Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, did not affect operations.

Another attack on a Saudi petrochemical plant in 2017 nearly caused a major industrial disaster. But it was quickly shut down, and investigators later attributed it to Russian hackers. This year, someone took control of a water treatment plan in a small town in Florida, in what appeared to be an attempt to poison the supply, but the attempt was quickly stopped.

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