Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack Gives Democrats Opportunity to Get Tough on Foreign Hacking | Opinion Fred Turner , Senior Vice President, BGR Group On 6/4/21 at 8:30 AM EDT The events of the past month make it glaringly apparent that an agonizing reappraisal of the effectiveness of Washington's policy approach to cybersecurity is long overdue. On May 7, a cyberattack forced the shutdown of one of the largest energy pipelines in the United States, disrupting our vulnerable energy infrastructure. The attack forced Colonial Pipeline to shut down 5,500 miles of pipeline, carrying 45 percent of the East Coast's fuel supplies, and at least 11 states up and down the Eastern Seaboard experienced gas shortages for the first time in memory. According to the assessment of cybersecurity experts, this was only the latest in a string of foreign-sponsored cyberattacks that constitute one of the biggest current threats to U.S. national security.