COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Colonial Pipeline is back in action after a six-day shutdown but it sent a ripple of effects across the east coast, following a cyber hack that caused its closure.
The pipeline delivers about 45 percent of the fuel used along the east coast but it shut down on Friday after a cyber attack by a group of hackers that call themselves Dark Side.
The pipeline had to halt its operations over the weekend which caused the company to shut down its operations.
Some gas stations on the east coast have started running out of fuel.
KMIZ checked in with local pipeline companies to see how they would ensure their cyber security.
Magellen Pipeline is a terminal that runs throughout the Midwest supplying gas and oil to Missouri.
Bruce Hein the spokesman for Magellen sent us a statement:
“Magellan has been continuously developing our cyber program for nearly a decade, with comprehensive and complex IT security systems in place. While we’re not at liberty to share a lot of specifics about our system at this time, we have invested significant resources into all aspects of our security, including testing our systems and training our employees on a regular basis as well. “
Energy transfer sent us a statement about their cyber security:
“Energy Transfer proactively protects the organization’s property, mission, customers, employees, and the public through a robust cybersecurity program. Using a defense-in-depth approach, multiple layers of technology, policies and training are deployed at all levels of the enterprise to keep the company’s IT and SCADA assets secure. Continuous employee training, strong identity and access management, supply-chain security assessments, endpoint protection, network segmentation, event monitoring, and a Security Operations Center work together to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems…”
Nick Chabarria a spokesman for AAA said gas prices in Missouri have gone up, they are the highest they have been since 2014.
“Locally and nationally these are the highest gas prices we’ve seen since 2014. It’s partly due to rise and demand for gasoline nationwide coming out of the Pandemic and also the price of crude oil. Gas prices last year of course they were at historic lows,” Chabarria says.
Chabarria says if we see a fuel shortage it could come from people stock piling and panic buying.
“There isn’t necessary a gasoline shortage there’s plenty of supply throughout the Midwest and in Missouri,” Chabarria said.
Chabarria said there is a nationwide fuel truck driver shortage that could add to the gas shortage as the demand for gas increases as we emerge from the COVID-19 Pandemic.