Colonial pipeline operators began restarting operations Wednesday
evening but said it would take “several days” for the supply chain to
return and warned some markets could continue experiencing “service
interruptions.” The mass panic caused by gasoline shortages and spiking
prices across the East Coast — nearly 7 in 10 gas stations in North
Carolina, and about half in Virginia and South Carolina, were out of gas
Wednesday evening, according to GasBuddy — highlighted the vulnerability
of aging U.S. energy infrastructure unable to handle 21st-century
threats, even those known about far in advance.

Founded as a joint venture by nine oil companies 59 years ago, *Koch
Industries* currently owns the largest stake in the company.

An outside audit of the Colonial Pipeline’s cyberattack defenses,
delivered to the company more than three years ago, described
“atrocious” information management practices and “a patchwork of poorly
connected and secured systems,” its author told The Associated Press.
“We found glaring deficiencies and big problems,” said Robert F.
Smallwood, whose firm prepared an 89-page report after a six-month
audit. “I mean, an eighth-grader could have hacked into that system.”
Colonial Pipeline operators have been seeking to hire a cybersecurity
manager for more than a month, with 32 applicants on LinkedIn.


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* Lock up Trump and his family of grifters. *