
About this episode
The episode discusses a major cybersecurity breach that disrupted the largest fuel pipeline in America due to a single forgotten password.
It could have been a great April Fool's joke if it weren't so...yikes! In May 2021, a Russian criminal gang broke into the largest fuel pipeline in America using one password. One forgotten, inactive, nobody-bothered-to-delete-it password. Within 72 hours, three quarters of North Carolina's gas stations were empty. People were fighting in line at a Marathon station in Knightdale. Someone issued an official government warning asking people to please stop filling plastic bags with gasoline. The pipeline that caused all of this runs right through Selma, on the same road everything in Johnston County has always run along. It has been that way for three hundred years. Turns out that's also a vulnerability.
Topics covered
- cybersecurity
- infrastructure
- crime
- gasoline supply
Keywords
- pipeline
- gas stations
- Russian criminal gang
- April Fool's joke
Mentioned in this episode
Products: gasoline
Places: America, North Carolina's, Knightdale, Selma, Johnston County
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