The critical infrastructure sector — energy, utilities, oil and gas, and more — is largely made up of privately owned and operated organizations, and yet, their demise is anything but private. As we’ve watched critical infrastructure attacks or unexpected natural events take place in a variety of forms over the past year — including the Colonial Pipeline Co. cyberattack, the Texas power crisis and others — damage to an organization within this sector can have devastating impacts across organizations, communities and countries.
The Colonial Pipeline Co. system, which carries gasoline and jet fuel to portions of the United States, suffered a ransomware cyberattack that impacted computerized equipment managing the pipeline, leading to shortages across regions of the country.