Colonial Pipeline, which carries 45% of fuel consumed on the US East Coast, says it halted operations due to a ransomware attack
Colonial Pipeline carries roughly 45% of gasoline and diesel fuel consumed on the East Coast — The main pipeline carrying gasoline and diesel fuel …
Wall Street Journal
Context & Ripple Effects
The shutdown turned a cyber intrusion into a fuel-supply disruption because Colonial Pipeline is a major East Coast gasoline and diesel conduit. Related coverage shows the immediate operational response was a restart after five days offline, while later reporting established that the incident involved DarkSide.
The episode also exposed the recovery trade-off: Colonial restored systems from backups, but its CEO later said the company made a $4.4M ransom payment amid uncertainty over the attack's scope. That makes the outage a case study in how access-control failures can become continuity failures.
First-order effects
- Colonial Pipeline's halt immediately interrupts its fuel deliveries, putting East Coast gasoline and diesel buyers and downstream distributors under supply pressure.
- Colonial must run incident response and restoration in parallel with operational recovery, while DarkSide's theft-and-encryption attack gives the attackers leverage over both data and uptime.
Second-order effects
- Fuel distributors and other customers dependent on Colonial's route must manage a supply interruption until service resumes, increasing the operational value of rapid, tested recovery procedures.
- Critical-infrastructure operators face a sharper incentive to close exposed remote-access paths: the reported breach through an inactive VPN account without multi-factor authentication ties a single identity-control gap to physical-service disruption.
Third-order effects
- The incident strengthens the security-to-policy pipeline: cyber resilience at operators of essential services is increasingly treated as a continuity and public-supply issue rather than an internal IT risk.
- If outages of this kind continue to translate cyber incidents into regional disruptions, resilience standards will center more on demonstrable access controls, backups, and recovery capability—not only breach prevention.
The trend: Ransomware is becoming a critical-infrastructure risk when compromised enterprise networks can force the shutdown of essential physical services.
Related: Security-to-policy pipeline · Colonial Pipeline · Colonial restarts operations after shutdown · Colonial CEO says company paid $4.4M ransom
Related Coverage
- Cyberattack Forces a Shutdown of a Top U.S. Pipeline New York Times
- Ransomware attack leads to shutdown of major U.S. pipeline system Washington Post
- Ransomware Attack Shuts Down Biggest U.S. Gasoline Pipeline Bloomberg
- View article VentureBeat
- Colonial Pipeline halts all pipeline operations after cybersecurity attack Reuters
- Pipeline cyberattack comes after years of government warnings The Record · Adam Janofsky
- Cyberattack forces shutdown of major U.S. fuel pipeline Axios
- View article HotHardware.com News
- Colonial Pipeline cyberattack shuts down pipeline that supplies 45% of East Coast's fuel ZDNet · Larry Dignan
- Cyberattack forces major US fuel pipeline to shut down CNN · Veronica Stracqualursi
- The Colonial Pipeline Hack Is a New Extreme for Ransomware Wired · Andy Greenberg
- Cyberattack prompts shutdown of major fuel pipeline in the US The Verge · Kim Lyons
- View article Bloomberg
- ‘Jugular’ of the U.S. fuel pipeline system shuts down after cyberattack Politico
- Cyberattack on pipeline spotlights holes in U.S. energy security Reuters
- Largest U.S. pipeline shuts down operations after ransomware attack BleepingComputer · Lawrence Abrams
- Cyber-attack forces shutdown of one of the US's largest pipelines The Guardian · Erum Salam
- View article Reuters
- Major US pipeline halts operations after ransomware attack Associated Press
- Ransomware Cyber Attack Forced the Largest U.S. Fuel Pipeline to Shut Down The Hacker News · Ravie Lakshmanan
- Ransomware Attack Forces Top US Gas Pipeline to Halt Operations MUO · Manuviraj Godara
- Colonial Pipeline, the Largest Fuel Pipeline in the U.S., Has Shut Down Over a Ransomware Attack Gizmodo · Jody Serrano
- A cyberattack shutdown US Colonial Pipeline Security Affairs · Pierluigi Paganini
- Ransomware Infection on Colonial Pipeline Shows Potential for Worse Gas Disruption Zero Day · Kim Zetter
- Ransomware Attack Shuts Down Top U.S. Gasoline Pipeline Slate · Daniel Politi
- Major U.S. Pipeline Crippled in Ransomware Attack Threatpost · Tom Spring
- Cyberattack shuts down major US gas pipeline CNET · Edward Moyer
- Cyber Attack Shuts Down Vital Fuel Pipeline To Northeast U.S. Forbes · Christopher Helman
- Cybersecurity Attack Shuts Down A Top U.S. Gasoline Pipeline NPR · Marisa Peñaloza
- Cyberattack Takes US Pipeline Operator Offline PCMag · Chloe Albanesius
- Major US pipeline halts operations after cyberattack The Hill · Tal Axelrod
- US pipeline giant shuts down major fuel line following cyberattack Engadget · Jon Fingas
- Cyberattack Forces Shutdown of Major U.S. Pipeline SecurityWeek · Mike Lennon
- U.S. Pipeline Giant Halts All Operations Following Cyberattack CRN · Michael Novinson
- Cyberattack forces Colonial Pipeline to shut major fuel line Reuters
- One of country's largest pipelines shuts down to contain cybersecurity breach DataBreaches.net · David E. Sanger entries
- Ransomware Attack Shuts Down Fuel Pipeline Supplying the East Coast Security Boulevard · Roark Pollock
- Restarting U.S. Pipeline Hit by Cyberattack May Not Be Easy Bloomberg
- Colonial Pipeline hackers stole data on Thursday - Bloomberg News Reuters
- SolarWinds Says Russian Group Likely Took Data During Cyber-Attack Bloomberg · Alyza Sebenius
Discussion
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@c_c_krebs
Chris Krebs
on x
Ransomware shuts down one of the most critical regional pipelines. This has gotten out of control. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
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@nakashimae
Ellen Nakashima
on x
ALERT: Ransomware attack leads to shut down of major U.S. pipeline system, U.S. official says. Still unknown if carried out by criminals or foreign govt. These incidents are more common than realized, but mostly go unreported to the public, experts say. https://www.washingtonpost…
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@kimzetter
Kim Zetter
on x
As suspected, the Colonial Pipeline precautionary shutdown was due to ransomware. This is what I was hearing from sources as well. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
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@thegrugq
Thaddeus E. Grugq
on x
“US pipeline system shutdown after {exposed VPN system not patched, weak password RDP exposed on internet, employee runs malware emailed to them}” After gaining access, financially motivated threat actors disrupted systems to extort money. Cyber extortion is big criminal business…
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@dnvolz
Dustin Volz
on x
The attack appears to involve ransomware, according to people familiar with the investigation. No indications at this time OT systems were directly hit. I'm told FireEye is probing the hack for Colonial. https://twitter.com/...
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@sammy_roth
Sammy Roth
on x
One of the nation's largest pipelines, which carries refined gasoline and jet fuel from Texas up the East Coast, was forced to shut down after being hit by ransomware in a vivid demonstration of the vulnerability of energy infrastructure to cyberattacks: https://www.nytimes.com/.…
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@dnvolz
Dustin Volz
on x
Update: Biden was briefed this morning on the Colonial pipeline cyberattack, a White House spokeswoman confirms. Admin is working with company to restore operations as quickly as possible. https://www.wsj.com/...
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@jasonbordoff
Jason Bordoff
on x
This should be wake up call to two key risks we've long known about: the vulnerability of our energy infrastructure to cyberattack & the dependence of much of the eastern seaboard's fuel supply on this one pipeline, particularly after the closure of several Northeast refineries. …
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@senmarkey
Ed Markey
on x
An understaffed, underprepared TSA cannot successfully ensure the security of dangerous and susceptible natural gas pipeline infrastructure. The federal inability to prevent cyberattacks turns our pipeline system into a risk for communities. https://twitter.com/...
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@k8em0
Katie Moussouris
on x
I'm old enough to recall when penetration testers were routinely chastised by business owners for bringing up threats that could lead to ransomware - especially when we retested & found the same bugs at their next audit. Let's hope this doesn't end with knee jerk policy on Monday…
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@urbanachievr
Christian Vanderbrouk
on x
If confirmed as a cyberattack, how is this not an act of war? https://twitter.com/...
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@joycewhitevance
Joyce Alene
on x
Cyber attacks are like arsons - you need someone to put the fire out, but then you need investigators to figure out who started it & how. This type of attack on our infrastructure is one of the major threats we face. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
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@nicolesganga
Nicole Sganga
on x
UPDATE: Colonial Pipeline confirms a ransomware attack is behind today's pipeline shut down 👇 https://twitter.com/...
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@cloud_opinion
@cloud_opinion
on x
Do you call the hackers that took out oil pipeline whitehats because they delayed climate change by half a second?
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@katearonoff
Kate Aronoff
on x
cyberattack shuts down Colonial Pipeline is quite the sentence https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@natashabertrand
Natasha Bertrand
on x
“The operator, Colonial Pipeline, which transports more than 100 million gallons of gasoline and other fuel daily from Houston to the New York Harbor...said it learned of the cyberattack on Friday, causing them to pause operations.” https://www.cnn.com/...
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@dnvolz
Dustin Volz
on x
Two people briefed on the probe said the attack appeared to be limited to information systems and hadn't infiltrated operational control systems, but cautioned that the investigation was in its early stages. https://www.wsj.com/...
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@shashj
Shashank Joshi
on x
“The [ransomware] attack on top U.S. fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline appears to have been carried out by a criminal group, but federal officials and the private security firm Mandiant are still investigating the matter, one official said.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/…
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@ajohnsocyber
Ann Johnson
on x
We spend a lot of time legitimately discussing Nation State activity whilst ransomware - often used by criminal gangs - is still the most disruptive global cyber problem. There is often affiliation b/t the two. Regardless don't take your eyes off ransomware anytime soon. https://…
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@bing_chris
Chris Bing
on x
First reported by WaPo. Have confirmed it was ransomware. https://twitter.com/...
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@jimsciutto
Jim Sciutto
on x
Can anyone share some examples of where “cyber security” is working? Critical government and private sector networks are consistently proving themselves vulnerable. https://twitter.com/...
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@scalzi
John Scalzi
on x
This is a very serious issue, but as I am a nerd, the thing in this story that really stuck out was when that guy said “it is the country's jugular aorta for moving fuel” and I was all EXCUSE ME I THINK YOU MEAN CAROTID ARTERY DO YOU EVEN ANATOMY SIR https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@peterzeihan
Peter Zeihan
on x
I truly hope that this was not done by a state actor. If a foreign government hacked American critical infrastructure, the American response is going to be brutal. https://www.wsj.com/...
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@nycsouthpaw
Southpaw
on x
An ongoing “cybersecurity attack” has turned off the biggest gasoline pipeline from the gulf to the US east coast. https://www.colpipe.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@nycsouthpaw
Southpaw
on x
Quite a kicker. https://twitter.com/...
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@robertmlee
Robert M. Lee
on x
Good reporting by Ellen with quotes from me. The reality is ransomware is becoming more pervasive in both IT and OT networks, impacts in IT can impact operations as well. https://twitter.com/...
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@sstapczynski
Stephen Stapczynski
on x
This is wild Colonial Pipeline, which operates the largest US gasoline and diesel pipeline system, said it shut its entire network after a cyber-attack. The artery transports roughly 45% of the fuel to the East Coast https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@jasonbordoff
Jason Bordoff
on x
Colonial is a critical piece of energy infrastructure, supplying nearly half of gasoline & diesel along much of east coast. If outage lasts, could see higher prices, calls to tap new northeast gasoline reserve & renewed discussion of fuel system resiliency https://www.energypolic…
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@juliettekayyem
Juliette Kayyem
on x
45% of the East Coast's fuel supply is carried through one delivery system, operated by Colonial Pipeline, the victim of a cyberattack Friday. The shutdown was precautionary; company says attack did not impact delivery. But, that's a lot of dependency on one company. https://twit…
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@anthony
@anthony
on x
The Colonial Pipeline is the largest refined-products pipeline in the U.S., transporting more than 100 million gallons per day, or roughly 45% of fuel consumed on the East Coast https://www.wsj.com/...
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@anthony
@anthony
on x
The main conduit carrying gasoline and diesel fuel to the U.S. East Coast said it had halted all operations after being hit with a cyberattack https://www.wsj.com/...
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@business
@business
on x
The hackers who caused Colonial Pipeline to shut down the biggest U.S. gasoline pipeline on Friday began their blitz against the company a day earlier, sources say https://www.bloomberg.com/...
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@catkngai
Catherine Ngai
on x
BIG —> The hackers who caused Colonial Pipeline to shut down the biggest U.S. gas pipe on Friday began their blitz against the co. a day earlier, stealing a large amount of data before locking computers w ransomware https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @technology
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@kevincollier
Kevin Collier
on x
The financial sector. Wall Street keeps their shit tight and figured out information sharing with the federal government early. But Jim's point is valid, I think. It feels like there's a weak link absolutely everywhere you look, especially with the ransomware epidemic. https://tw…
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@cahlberg
Christopher Ahlberg
on x
Good commentary by @uuallan here. Zero reason to accept this to be run out of Russia. FSB knows who these guys are and let them be. Don't accept it. https://twitter.com/...
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@williamturton
William Turton
on x
SCOOP (w/ @jordanr1000): Hackers stole nearly 100 GBs of data from the operator of the U.S. biggest gasoline pipeline on Thursday. Hackers threatened to leak the data if the ransom was not paid. (We don't know the current status of the ransom.) Story TK.
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@oxleyio
David Oxley
on x
“Cyber security” works every day, until it fails, and that's what (rightly) catches people's attention. There's a lot wrong here, and much room for improvement, but companies successfully preventing ransomware attacks rarely make the news. https://twitter.com/...