A cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline, the largest pipeline operator in the United States, has sparked panic among the population of several states, Fox Business reported.
On May 8, Colonial Pipeline announced a cyber attack on its information infrastructure. In response to the attempted network intrusion, the company had to shut down some systems, as the threat temporarily halted all pipeline operations and affected the security of some information systems.
The Colonial Pipeline supplies about 45% of the fuel consumed on the US East Coast. By Tuesday evening, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia had long queues at gas stations, the number of which has already exceeded a thousand. Some stations have no fuel at all.
S&P analyst Tom Close said that gasoline shortages are partly due to the fact that gas stations “sell three or four times more gasoline than they normally sell a day because people are panicking.”
It was reported Wednesday morning that a cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline had led to a state of emergency in Florida.