Cyberattack Spotlights Holes in U.S. Energy Security

Date: 09 May 2021 - 23:01

News ID: ۹۰۰۷۰

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A cyberattack that shut the largest U.S. gasoline pipeline and jeopardized supplies from Gulf Coast refining centers to cities including Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Atlanta put energy security back in the spotlight.
Colonial Pipeline halted operations to contain the threat after learning of Friday’s attack, the company said. It cut deliveries of 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel through 5,500 miles (8,850 km) of pipelines.
"This attack is unusual for the U.S. But, the bottom line is

that attacks targeting operational technology - the industrial control systems on the production line or plant floor - are becoming more frequent,” Algirde Pipikaite, cyber strategy lead at the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity, said. "Cybersecurity vulnerabilities have become a systemic issue. It needs strategic oversight to ensure that operations have preventative controls and an appropriate responses plan if and when attackers breach a system.”