Top U.S. Fuel Pipeline Hires Cyber Safety Boss Months After Hack

(Bloomberg) -- Colonial Pipeline Co., which manages the largest fuel conduit in the U.S., hired a Chief Information Security Officer nine months after a ransomware attack completely paralyzed its operations, drove up gasoline prices and sparked shortages at filling stations along the East Coast. 

The new position will be filled by Adam Tice, who previously held leadership roles in cyber security at privately-held Silicon Valley Bank and Equifax Inc., Colonial said Tuesday in a statement. 

Hackers, who the FBI said were linked to a group known as DarkSide and were believed to be located in Russia or Eastern Europe, were able to breach Colonial’s computer system using a virtual private network, or VPN. The attack forced Colonial to shut down, halting flows of gasoline to the East Coast. Operations were only resumed after the company agreed to pay a ransom in bitcoins. 

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