BALTIMORE — A cyberattack on one of the nation's largest gas lines could cost you the next time you go to the tank.
The Colonial Pipeline that runs from Texas all the way up the east Coast.
It was forced to shut down because of the ransom ware attack.
Maryland could be one of the areas that feels it the most.
AAA Mid-Atlantic anticipates Maryland may see prices increase 3-7 cents this week.
“I used to put $2 in here but now I gotta go out and put about $3 or $4 and it impacts me because I’m riding all day and it’s starting to add up quickly,” said James Barnes who was fueling up his dirt bike.
Investigators believe A criminal group from Russia is responsible for a cyberattack ON the nations largest fuel pipeline.
Robert Lee is a Cyber Security expert for Drago Inc. out of Hanover.
He said Colonial did all the right things and says cyberattacks like this are becoming more and more common.
“However, every time the attacks happen, we talk about what is the government doing? What can government do more? Why aren't they doing more? The reality is a lot of this is the responsibility of our companies. Now they're victims. We shouldn't blame them for the attacks. However, there is investments that is needed inside the companies on the operations networks. Government simply can't scale to try to make those investments for each and every company. What the government could do is be consistent to the messaging in what that investment looks like and enabling them to make the investments. “
The line delivers around 45% of all fuel to the East Coast.
I talked to a contractor named Tito who said when gas prices go up—it impacts everything else.
“Roofing, home improvement, landscaping gas go up we have to go up. It’s going to hurt the small people.”
The good news is that Lee said it may take days to get things back on line but it shouldn’t take weeks—which hopefully will lessen the impact.
