Pipeline halts operations after ransomware attack

The operator of a major pipeline system that transports fuel across the East Coast said Saturday it had been victimized by a ransomware attack and had halted all pipeline operations to deal with the threat. The attack is unlikely to affect gasoline supply and prices unless it leads to a prolonged shutdown of the pipeline, experts said.

Colonial Pipeline did not say what was demanded or who made the demand. Ransomware attacks typically are carried out by criminal hackers who seize data and demand a large payment to release it.

The attack underscores again the vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure to cyberattacks. It presents a new challenge for an administration still dealing with its response to major hacks from months ago, including a massive breach of government agencies and corporations for which the

U.S. sanctioned Russia last month.

In this case, Colonial Pipeline said the ransomware attack Friday affected some of its information technology systems and that the company moved “proactively” to take certain systems offline, halting pipeline operations.

The company says it delivers roughly 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast.

In an earlier statement, it said it was “taking steps to understand and resolve this issue” with an eye toward returning to normal operations.

The Alpharetta, Georgiabased company transports gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil from refineries primarily 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 gallons a day.

The company said it hired a cybersecurity company to investigate the nature and scope of the attack and has contacted law enforcement and federal agencies.

Oil analyst Andy Lipow said the impact of the attack on fuel supplies and prices depends on how long the pipeline is down. An outage of one day or two would be minimal, he said, but an outage of fivesix days could cause shortages and price hikes, particularly in an area stretching from central Alabama to the Washington, D.C., region.

Lipow said a key concern about a lengthy delay would be the supply of jet fuel needed to keep major airports operating, like those in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.

A leading expert in industrial control systems, Dragos CEO Robert Lee, said systems such as those that directly manage the pipeline’s operation have been increasingly connected to computer networks in the past decade.

MARK LENNIHAN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Traffic passes oil storage tanks owned by the Colonial Pipeline Co. in Linden, N.J., in 2008. Colonial Pipeline, a major pipeline that transports fuels along the East Coast, said it had to stop operations Friday because it was the victim of a cyberattack.