Lawmakers have summoned Joseph Blount, the CEO of Colonial Pipeline, to testify next month at a Congressional hearing to probe how a cyberattack caused a six-day shutdown of the biggest oil pipeline in the US.
The hearing, called “Cyber Threats in the Pipeline: Using Lessons from the Colonial Ransomware Attack to Defend Critical Infrastructure,” will be held by the House Committee on Homeland Security. It will take place June 9, committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi announced Thursday.
The FBI has blamed the Russia-based criminal group DarkSide for the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline. Blount said earlier this week that the company paid $4.4 million in ransom to the hackers the same day the attack took place, even though the FBI recommends against making payments to criminal hackers.
The payment didn’t stop the company from shutting down its pipeline, spurring panic buying and gas shortages across much of the Southeast.
The cyberattack caused a six-day shutdown of the biggest oil pipeline in the US.EPA
“The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and the related fuel shortages laid bare three urgent challenges facing the nation: cybersecurity vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, the need to build resilience into our networks, and the profitability of
