Oversight, Homeland Security Committees 'Extremely Concerned' After Pipeline Attack
HuffPost
Committee chairs said they were "disappointed" the operator of the nation's largest gas pipeline refused to give details about its ransomware attack.
The House Oversight and Homeland Security committees said Monday that they remain “extremely concerned” following a briefing with Colonial Pipeline, a major fossil fuel company that fell victim to a ransomware attack that caused a gas shortage in several states. In a joint statement, House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and House Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said it was “deeply troubling that cyber criminals were able to use a ransomware attack to disrupt gas supply on the East Coast and reportedly extort millions of dollars.” Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline, the operator of the nation’s largest fossil fuel pipeline, suffered a ransomware attack ― a type of cyberattack in which hackers encrypt important data and demand a ransom to give it back — perpetrated by the cybercriminal group DarkSide. The dayslong attack affected the 5,500-mile pipeline’s markets from Texas through the Southeast and up to New Jersey.More Related News