Blog Post Blog posts represent the views of CFR fellows and staff and not those of CFR, which takes no institutional positions. Cyberattack Leads to Shutdown of U.S. Pipeline A ransomware attack on one the largest pipelines in the United States forced a shutdown of the entire system, halting the flow of refined gas, diesel, and jet fuel through its 5,500-mile network along the east coast. In a statement last Friday, the operator of the pipeline, Colonial Pipeline, announced that it had shut down the system in order to prevent further disruption by the hackers. “Our primary focus is the safe and efficient restoration of our service and our efforts to return to normal operation.” Government officials believe the attack to be the work of ransomware gang DarkSide, to whom Colonial Pipeline paid a nearly $5 million ransom hours after discovering the breach to recover stolen data. In a statement on Saturday, the White House said that it is working to “assess the implications of this incident, avoid disruption to supply and help the company restore pipeline operations as quickly as possible.”