Colonial Pipeline Company, which supplies 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel, and transports 2.5 million barrels of gasoline a day, has been dark since last week after learning that it was the victim of a cybersecurity attack involving ransomware.
On May 8, the company issued a statement saying that it proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, actions which temporarily halted all pipeline operations and affected some of the company’s IT systems.
As a result, Forbes reports that the national average gas price climbed to more than $3 a gallon for the first time in six years last week, and eight states reported fuel shortages.
Colonial began the process of restoring service to smaller lateral lines immediately and by May 10 had brought Line 4, which runs from Greensboro, N.C., to Woodbine, Md., back under manual control. The pipeline company said it was working in partnership with third-party cybersecurity experts, law enforcemen
