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.


--
* Lock up Trump and his family of grifters. *