A shutdown of one of the country’s largest fuel pipelines could raise prices at the pump for millions of people in the southeast if the system isn’t able to recover quickly from a cyberattack.
The Colonial Pipeline, which transports nearly half of all fuel for the East Coast, went down on Friday after the private company that operates it said it discovered a breach.
As the Biden administration scrambles to help Colonial Pipeline get back online, the attack has renewed concerns about the vulnerabilities of America’s infrastructure when it comes to cybersecurity.
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Here’s what you need to know about the Colonial Pipeline attack.
What happened?
Colonial Pipeline said in a statement on Sunday that it “learned it was the victim of a cybersecurity attack, and has since determined that the incident involved ransomware.”
The company said it took its four main lines down on Friday to contain the attack, which also affected its information technology systems.
The FBI confirmed on Monday that a cybercriminal group known as DarkSide was behind the attack. The group is reportedly known for paralyzing organizations’ networks with its software and demanding ransom in exchange for unlocking them.
Why is the pipeline important?
The Colonial Pipeline stretches 5,500 miles from Texas to New Jersey and delivers 45% of the fuel for the East Coast.
It is the largest refined-products pipeline in the country, carrying gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other products from refineries along the Gulf Coast to states up and down the East Coast
What are the consequences if it stays offline?
A prolonged disruption to the Colonial Pipeline’s service could hike gas prices in the southeast and throughout the region.
Such was the case in 2016, when a 10-day shutdown of the pipeline due to a leak caused gas prices in Georgia to spike by 30 cents, according to Reuters.
Consumers weren’t seeing their prices at the pump rise yet on Monday, as the pipeline entered its third day offline. Crude oil prices were rising, however, and experts have said that fuel prices could rise more broadly if the outage continues for several more days.
What is the Biden administration doing?
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Sunday that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation and described the administration’s response to the pipeline closure as an “all-hands-on-deck effort.”
As the pipeline entered its third day offline, the Department of Transportation announced that it would relax rules covering how some fuels are transported by truck.
And the administration is separately working on addressing cybersecurity concerns.
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The White House has circulated drafts of an executive order that would impose standards on federal agencies and contractors for securing its digital infrastructure. In the wake of the Colonial Pipeline attack, however, officials have reportedly raised concerns about whether the order could prevent attacks on infrastructure controlled by private companies, such as in this case and the case of many other power grids and fuel pipelines.
The Biden administration also launched a 100-day review of vulnerabilities in the power grid in April.
