Colonial Pipeline Co. the operator of the major pipeline recently attacked by hackers, was looking for a cybersecurity position two months ago; according to Bloomberg. However, the position seeking was not related to the recent attack.
Firstly, the cybersecurity position, still open and available, was seeking for “specialists including but not limited to network security engineers, SCADA & field controls network engineers and a cyber security architect.”
Secondly, the manager of such position would be responsible for “development of the enterprise strategy for cybersecurity; will oversee the development of standards and processes for cyber security; lead the recovery from security incidents; and guide forensics of incidents.”
Thirdly, although the company told Bloomberg that the position was most related to a growth strategy, it is clear that the company needed to shield their operations from cyber-attacks. Specially as it delivers about 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast.
Moreover, as we reported previously, the cyber-attack happened last Friday; the hacker group called DarkSide was the one responsible for the attack and the ransom request, according to the FBI. The attack left the pipeline shut, and provoked a fuel and petroleum transportation crisis in the east and south coasts.
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Cybersecurity, essential to ensure supply to eastern and southern states
Furthermore, company executives said this Wednesday that later today they were going to decide if the restart process of the asset would start. However, they had manually restarted some segments of pipeline since Monday.
In addition, the EPA and the Department of energy declared fuel waivers and relaxed some environmental policies in order to send fuel to where it is much needed. The vapor pressure policy being one of those.
On the other hand, according to Gasbuddy.com, 2815 of North Carolina’s fuel pumps were dry; while in Raleigh-Durham it was worse, with 72% of gas stations out of fuel. Consequently, North Carolina governor urged people Wednesday to only buy gas if their tank is low, and to report any instances of price gouging.
Also, in Georgia, 17,5% of station were dry; while in Virginia 17% of them; and 16% in South Carolina were in the same situation.
Finally, the Department of Homeland Security is prepared to review any temporary Jones Act waiver requests from companies if there is not sufficient capacity to get to regions suffering fuel shortages; according to White House press.
