Cyber Attacks: Impacts and Factors Contributing to the Systems Vulnerability

Critical Infrastructure, Key Resources, and Cyber Security
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Critical Infrastructure, Key Resources, and Cyber Security
Attacks on the United States (US) critical infrastructure remain the greatest threat to homeland security. As the US Government Accountability Office (2016) reveals, this threat is increasing in scale, frequency, and impact severity, calling for increased preparedness to defend the nation’s critical infrastructure. The two cyber-attacks discussed in this paper reveal the vulnerability of the US critical infrastructure and how such threats may impede homeland security efforts.
Colonial Pipeline Cyber-attack
The Attack
In May 2021, Colonial Pipeline was forced to shut down some systems after a hacker group attacked its networks. The attack involved ransomware, and the company was locked out of its systems until the ransom was paid. Colonial was able to resume its operations a few days later because it paid the ransom (Morrison, 2021). This was an attack on the energy sector.
Impact
Colonial Pipeline is the largest US pipeline system, supplying fuel to the East Coast. According to Morrison (2021), the attack disrupted the fuel supply to this area for almost a week. It also caused mass panic-buying of fuel, and as a result, there were fuel shortages and price hikes. In addition, the company had to pay a ransom worth $4.4 million in bitcoin, although the department of justice recovered some of the money.
Factors Contributing to the Systems Vulnerability
One of the factors that made Colonial’s systems vulnerable was a lack of multi-factor authentication when login into the system (Kelly & Resnick-ault, 2021). Multi-factor authentication keeps unauthorized users from accessing the system. Another factor was a lack of ransomware prevention strategies. Colonial Pipeline did not have a ransomware prevention plan, indicating a lack of cyber security readiness (Kelly & Resnick-ault, 2021).
Response
Colonial Pipeline responded by taking its systems offline and shutting them down to avoid further attacks (Morrison, 2021). The company also notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shortly after they became aware of the attack (Kelly & Resnick-ault, 2021). It worked with federal agenci...