A cyberattack just led to a significant disruption of American infrastructure. Reuters reports that industry giant Colonial Pipeline has temporarily shut down all its fuel line operations and parts of its network after learning of a breach that compromised “some of [its] IT systems.”
The pipeline is 5,500 miles long and carries jet fuel and refined gasoline from the Gulf Coast to New York, according to the Times, transporting some 2.5 million barrels daily.
Colonial didn’t outline the nature of the attack or try to identify who might be responsible. The company has already tapped an unnamed “leading” cybersecurity firm to investigate, and is talking to law enforcement as well as federal agencies.
The Times reported that it was unlikely that the shutdown would cause immediate disruption to consumers, since most of the fuel goes into storage tanks, and the US has seen a reduction in energy use due to the pandemic. How long the pipeline may remain shut down was still unclear Saturday.
