Colonial Pipeline, nearly 9,000 kilometers long, transports fuel from Texas to New York. On Friday he ended up victim of hackers: closed network. In days Biden will present a close after the Russian (SolarWinds) and Chinese (Microsoft) cases
On Friday Colonial Pipeline, the largest pipeline in the United States that starts from the Texas Gulf and runs 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) to transport 45% of its fuel needs to the East Cost, was forced to close the entire network at due to a cyber attack conducted with ransomware, a type of malware designed to lock systems by encrypting data and demanding a “ransom” in order to re-enter.
As the New York Times in the coming weeks the administration of Joe Biden should issue a executive order to strengthen the security of federal and private systems, after two major attacks from Russia (SolarWinds) and China (against Microsoft) in recent months have taken US intelligence agencies and companies by surprise.
The same newspaper points out that, as a private company, Colonial “is under less pressure than a public company to disclose the details” of the cyber-attack. However, “understanding how the pipeline attack was conducted – and the motivations of those who perpetrated it – will be crucial for the FBI and the White House, which has elevated cyber-vulnerability to the top of its national security agenda. “.
The New York Times adds that “although both the attack against SolarWinds and the one against Microsoft appeared to be aimed, at least initially, at the theft of emails and other data, the nature of the intrusions created backdoor which according to experts could ultimately allow attacks on physical infrastructures ”.