Colonial Pipeline: ransomware reaches the fuel pumps
A ransomware attack on IT systems led to the shutdown of the largest US fuel pipeline. Separation and planning matter.
On Friday, Colonial Pipeline shut down the largest fuel pipeline in the US after a ransomware attack. The company says the attack hit its business IT systems, and it stopped the pipeline as a precaution. Queues at petrol stations followed.
Even when ransomware doesn’t touch the machines that run operations, the business often can’t operate without its IT: billing, scheduling, knowing what went where.
Questions for any company with physical operations:
- Are operational systems separated from the office network, with controlled links only?
- Can operations run for a day with IT down? On paper, by phone, by hand?
- Who decides to shut something down, and with what information?
- Are backups of business systems offline and tested?
Ransomware is now a business continuity problem, not only an IT problem. Plan it with the people who run operations.