Colonial Pipeline: The DarkSide Strikes

On May 8, 2021, the Colonial Pipeline Company announced that it had halted its pipeline operations due to a ransomware attack, disrupting critical supplies of gasoline and other refined products throughout the East Coast. This attack was similar to an earlier pipeline ransomware attack in 2020, which also resulted in a pipeline shutdown. In 2018, cyberattacks reportedly disrupted the customer communications systems (but not pipeline operations) at four of the nation’s largest natural gas pipeline companies.

The possibility of lengthy pipeline disruptions was raised in 2019 congressional testimony by then-Director of National Intelligence, who singled out pipelines as critical infrastructure vulnerable to cyberattacks that could cause shutdowns “for days to weeks.” The Colonial Pipeline cyberattack has elevated concern in Congress about the security of the nation’s energy pipelines and government programs to protect critical infrastructure.