{"id":18597,"date":"2021-05-10T13:35:38","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T13:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esecurityplanet.com\/?p=18597"},"modified":"2023-05-12T15:32:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T15:32:20","slug":"colonial-pipeline-ransomware-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esecurityplanet.com\/trends\/colonial-pipeline-ransomware-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack Shows Critical Infrastructure Vulnerabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the biggest cyberattack to date on critical infrastructure in the U.S., Colonial Pipeline \u2013 sprawling 5,500 miles from Houston to New York City \u2013 halted its mainlines on Friday, May 7, when administrators detected advanced ransomware<\/a> internally.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, a day before the ransomware attack, Russia-based cyber criminal group DarkSide stole more than 100GB of data, giving DarkSide added leverage to extract a ransom from Colonial Pipeline, which some speculated could end up paying a ransom to avoid a prolonged and potentially catastrophic shutdown. On Monday, May 10, Colonial announced that it had set a “goal of substantially restoring operational service by the end of the week,” which means the Eastern U.S. will likely face days of uncertainty over its energy supply.<\/p>\n

The attack should serve as a wake-up call for organizations in critical infrastructure that have failed to take ransomware protection steps and implement advanced cybersecurity defenses that limit the potential attack surface, like microsegmentation<\/a> and zero trust<\/a>, to better isolate critical data and operational technology (OT).<\/p>\n

More from <\/span>eSecurity Planet<\/span><\/i> on the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack:<\/span><\/p>\n