Imperfect Infrastructure: Colonial Pipeline Hack

Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline system in the United States, has been ransom hacked on 7 April by a cyber criminal organisation. The pipeline stretches 5,550 miles on the eastern seaboard, supplying 45% of the fuel demand from New York to Texas has caused complications to several airports, including the Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Atlanta. This incident puts a spotlight on the vulnerability of the United States’ energy infrastructure cybersecurity. Colonial Pipeline and the White House are cooperating in order to solve the problem and focusing primarily to restore the pipeline service. After the incident, a cyber criminal group known as the DarkSide claimed responsibility for the attack on the pipeline. The group is based in Eastern Europe modelled as a “ransomware as a service” business targeting only for-profit companies in English speaking countries. Furthermore, they have declared on their website, “Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society”, and have also stated they will donate a portion of the ransom pay to charities. As a result, the Colonial Pipeline hacking incident by DarkSide has generated concerns among the market players regarding the fuel distribution in the long term that will surely cause the fuel price to soar ahead of the summer driving season.

The impact of this CyberHack incident not only involved certain parties, but at least 17 states and the District of Columbia must be in an unfavorable position due to fuel shortage. Kidult, the founding partner of Again Capital, said that there is a booking out of Europe for the United States as it is noted that at least six tankers are booked. However, most of the fuel distribution is done by road, specifically by truck. On Sunday (5/9), the Bidden Administration made a policy to extend the amount of