Ransomware Attack Shuts Down Pipeline
What happened?
Criminal hackers took control of the computer systems of the Colonial Pipeline, which delivers gasoline to a large section of the East Coast of the United States. The operators of the pipeline decided to shut down operations until they could regain control.
Government officials tried to reallocate resources from elsewhere and address fears that gas would soon be completely unavailable in some areas, but many people ignored this and ran out to hoard gas for their vehicles anyway. There were widespread, temporary shortfalls.
The company eventually paid $4.4 million in ransom to the perpetrators of the cyber attack, regained control of their systems, and resumed pipeline operations. The gasoline started flowing again, resolving the shortages.
How was it covered?
Center/Least bias: Associated Press. Reuters.
Right bias: Fox News. Wall Street Journal.
Industry: World Oil.
What related misinformation circulated?
In the early phase of the pipeline shutdown, The New York Times said in a Twitter post that it had caused “no shortages or lines” at gas stations, but this was false even at the time (h/t AllSides via Instagram). As of this writing, the Times had not taken down this tweet, from 11 May.
Rumors about shortages, however, did prompt runs on gas stations as people hoarded fuel… which brought the rumors to pass faster than they would have if people had not behaved this way (h/t @MrSilva via Twitter).
Reports that people were filling the wrong kinds of containers with gasoline prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to tweet out guidance to “not fill plastic bags with gasoline,” but it’s hard to tell if this was justified as many of the images published alongside such reports were almost certainly fake or staged (h/t @KolinaKoltai via Twitter).
Way out there, you could also find a former Florida congressional candidate suggesting that the cyber attack had been faked, a false flag to make it seem like high gas prices were not the fault of President Biden. He cited no evidence that this could even possibly be the case.
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