A top fuel pipeline operator that carries refined gasoline and jet fuel from Texas up the East Coast to New York said on Saturday it was forced to shut down its 5,500 mile-long system after a cyber attack that involved ransomware.
Oil companies have had us all on a constantly performing Ransomware attack for the last century, maybe longer.
Us New Englanders be glad warm weather is coming, in light of this.
Is it only heating oil or is it gasoline as well?
I thought the former reality TV show host’s administration took care of preventing this kind of thing during Infrastructure Week.
No, not that infrastructure week … one of the other ones.
Dumb-ass corporations need to disconnect their SCADA systems from the internet, build their own networks and keep them isolated from the internet if they don’t want to be hacked.
It will be interesting to see how this shakes out and what persistent threats have been installed in the company’s systems as part of the attack. Did they pay the ransom and not get back what the needed? Do they have to shut everything down? Do they have any hot backups or procedures for reduce operations?
For the oil and gas companies, this kind of thing is bad because their costs don’t go down while shipment is interrupted. And they can try to raise prices, but that only sort of works to maximize profits.
Yet another issue where we will look back on the four lost years under crazy stupid evil people who did nothing useful about anything.
OK, it carries a lot to the East Coast.
Colonial Pipeline, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, "is the largest U.S. refined products pipeline system and can carry more than 3 million barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel between the U.S. Gulf Coast and the New York Harbor area
that carries refined gasoline and jet fuel from Texas up the East Coast to New York
Reading their company info, they handle a lot of other areas as well.
Neal Stephensen explained all this in his novel Reamde…
I suppose even Republicans realize pipelines (and cyber-security)are infrastructure, and this event underscores the importance of passing Biden’s bill.
This is where infrastructure meets national security, and might have been far more serious if it had occurred in the winter time.
Look at the system map to fully grasp the magnitude of the problem.
This isn’t the only refined products system, but as the story says, it’s almost half the supply for the East.
ETA this would have been the first post but got spinning wheel of death.
The stories say gasoline, diesel and other fuels. Not sure where heating fuels fit into the refinery output. This time of year, I wouldn’t expect heating fuels to be a priority unless they are rebuilding stocks.
ETA the Energy Information Administration website does say the heating oil stocks are usually rebuilt during the summer and fall, which makes sense.
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/heating-oil/where-our-heating-oil-comes-from.php
Heating oils & diesel are in the distillate group.
They got the ransom note Saturday noon, apparently, and finally realized that they should have been working with that cybersecurity firm for months, like the intel community kept telling them to.
So 45 percent of the East Coast’s energy supplies are stuck sideways in a canal behind some clowns who weren’t airgapping their systems away from the internet. Betcha the next headline disaster is a fuel pipeline explosion somewhere. Probably at a Colonial Pipeline facility.
From USA Today:
The Alpharetta, Georgia-based company transports gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil from refineries located on the Gulf Coast through pipelines running from Texas to New Jersey. Its pipeline system spans more than 5,500 miles, transporting more than 100 million gallon a day.
ETA: from the Colonial FAQ page. Not only does that include heating oil, but mentions fuel for the military.
Specifically, Colonial transports various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, jet fuel, and fuels for the U.S. military through a pipeline system. The system is connected refineries in the Gulf Coast and in the Northeast. The majority of the system is underground, with tankage and other facilities at key receipt, storage and delivery points.
I have that and haven’t read it yet and now I can’t wait. (except I love what I’m reading right now)
That’s how WilTel got it’s start. It’s stupid that pipelines and energy grids are on the Internet. I get that it makes it easier to access the SCADA systems, but it makes it easier for EVERYONE to access the systems.
Can you say “Solar Wind?” I knew you could!
Now can you say “Cyber Ninjas?” What was that, “Fuck them?”
You read such good books! What is your current one?
Texas’ main export product this year is gas shortages.
So critical energy infrastructure on which millions of Americans depend is increasingly vulnerable to crippling cyberattacks?
No need to worry.
We can just keep connecting everything and its brother to the Internet –“smart appliances”, home security systems, implanted biomedical devices, banking and payment systems, air traffic control, nuke plants, water supplies, “connected cars” – without fear of creating a giant technology trap of a target, the likes of which those 9/11 attackers could only dream…
After all, I need to operate my toaster by smartphone app!
