Colonial Pipeline attack: A ‘wake up call’ about the threat of ransomware
May 16, 2021 – Article posted on CNN
A relatively unsophisticated ransomware attack that caused a days-long shutdown of America’s largest fuel pipeline last week — resulting in gas shortages, spiking prices and consumer panic — is exactly the sort of situation that cybersecurity experts have warned about for years.
Experts say it could’ve been much worse, pointing to other aging, critical utilities including electrical systems and nuclear power plants. They are hoping the Colonial Pipeline hack will serve as a wake-up call for companies and governments to properly address these vulnerabilities. There are some signs that this is being understood with the Biden administrations recent executive order aimed at strengthening the government’s cyber defenses.
The FBI has confirmed that the cybercriminal group behind the ransomware attack is known as DarkSide. DarkSide runs what is effectively a “ransomware-as-a-service” business. “It sounds a lot like a business, and ultimately, that’s because it is,” said Drew Schmitt, principal threat intelligence analyst at GuidePoint Security. “A lot of these ransomware groups have customer service, they have chat support … all of these different mechanisms that you would see in a normal business.”
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