An electronic data transfer system used by Energy Transfer was crippled by a cyber attack. However, the company said that the attack was on a partial note and all services were securely restored by 6 PM New York time on Monday. The company in the discussion is a 3rd party provider named Energy Services Group LLC, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer.
Sources reporting to Cybersecurity Insiders confirmed that there was no effect on the flow of natural gas.
The attack could also show its impact in near future on the network of major pipelines of some of the noted companies such as Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Company, which owns lines from Michigan to Texas, Transwestern Pipeline Company and Rover Pipeline Company.
Currently, it’s not clear who was responsible for the attack. But in March 2018, US officials said that Russian hackers could conduct attacks on the critical infrastructure of some of the most developed western countries such as US and UK.
As the company happens to manage Dallas’s national pipeline network, US intelligence suspects that the attack could be the work of some state-sponsored hackers.
Note- Energy Transfer also known as Energy Transfer Partners is a Fortune 500 US company which provides natural gas and propane supplies to Dallas, Texas. Kelsey Warren is the founder of the company who founded the firm in 1995. The company is also a parent company of Dakota Access LLC or Dakota Access Pipeline which offers oil pipeline supply through a 1,172-mile long underground pipeline duct.
