How a ransomware attack shut down a major US fuel pipeline

Popular Science: “The network carries petroleum products like gasoline and aviation fuel. Here’s what to know. A surefire way to appreciate the importance of a key piece of infrastructure is to watch what happens when it unexpectedly stops working. For example, most people probably thought very little about the importance of the Suez Canal, but when it suddenly became blocked in March by a grounded container ship, that changed. A typically reliable system had temporarily failed. The world noticed. Something similar happened beginning late last week with a sprawling, crucial petroleum transit system run by a company called Colonial Pipeline. That company discovered that it had been hit by a ransomware attack on Friday, May 7. “In response, we proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which has temporarily halted all pipeline operations,” the company explained in a statement on Saturday. On Monday afternoon, the company said that it is working on getting its operations back up and running. “Segments of our pipeline are being brought back online in a stepwise fashion,” it reported. Understandably, you may not think too much about ransomware attacks, nor about where the gas in your car comes from. Here are your questions about the situation, answered…”