Cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline: Biden facing the major cybersecurity issue

Colonial Pipeline oil storage tanks in New Jersey on May 10, 2021. AP - Seth Wenig

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2 min

After the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline, the White House set up a crisis unit tasked with preventing oil supply disruptions.

For several weeks, a presidential decree has been in preparation to strengthen the cybersecurity of federal agencies and essential companies, in the face of an upsurge in computer attacks, but the American press is now wondering if this decree goes far enough. 

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This decree, of which the

New York Times

was able to obtain the main lines, would aim above all to protect the federal agencies from the risk represented by the recourse to external providers.

The principle: "zero trust", limited access to internal systems, and obligation for these companies to certify that the software provided does not contain any security breach. 

A text that responds directly to a spectacular attack, revealed at the end of 2020 and attributed by Washington to Russia.

Hackers broke into nine federal agencies using software from SolarWinds.

This draft decree, which should be made public in the coming days, however, shows its limits, according to the

New York Times

.

Not sure it applies to companies like the one that was attacked on Friday.

The daily recalls, however, that in the United States, 85% of critical infrastructure, from power plants to drinking water networks, are managed by private companies with sometimes faulty security systems.

Cybersecurity appears to be a crucial issue for the Biden administration because it is the second cyberattack to paralyze a pipeline in just over a year.

In early January, pirates also tried to poison the drinking water circuit of a city in Florida.

► To read also: Who is DarkSide, the hacker gang behind the cyberattack against Colonial Pipeline?

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  • Computer science

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  • Cybercriminality

  • Joe biden