Computer Security News and Insights
When Colonial Pipeline got hit with ransomware in May 2021, they paid $4.4 million within hours. Their CEO later told a Senate committee the company had an incident response plan — but executing it under pressure exposed gaps nobody anticipated. If a company running critical U.S. infrastructure can stumble,
In May 2021, Colonial Pipeline paid a $4.4 million ransom after a single compromised password shut down fuel distribution across the U.S. East Coast. The attack didn't just expose a vulnerability in critical infrastructure — it exposed a truth most organizations ignore: the speed and quality of
The Breach That Exposed a Missing Plan In December 2021, a vulnerability in Apache Log4j sent every security team on the planet into a tailspin. Organizations that had practiced cyber incident response steps mobilized in hours. Those that hadn't? They scrambled, pointed fingers, and lost precious time while
The Breach That Cost a Pipeline Its Entire Operation In May 2021, Colonial Pipeline — the largest fuel pipeline in the United States — shut down completely after a ransomware attack. A single compromised password on a legacy VPN account gave the DarkSide threat actor group everything they needed. The company paid
The Colonial Pipeline Attack Changed Incident Reporting Forever In May 2021, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack shut down fuel distribution across the U.S. East Coast. The company paid a $4.4 million ransom. But here's what most people missed: Colonial Pipeline reported the incident to the FBI
In 2020, a Tesla employee was offered $1 million by a Russian threat actor to plant malware on the company's network. The employee reported it to the FBI instead, and the conspirator was arrested. That's the version of the story where everything goes right. Most insider
In December 2020, a former Cisco employee pleaded guilty to accessing the company's cloud infrastructure and deleting 456 virtual machines, wiping out 16,000 Webex Teams accounts. He'd left the company months earlier. His credentials still worked. That single insider incident cost Cisco roughly $2.4
One Cost the Company $3.4 Billion. The Other Just Forgot to Lock the Door. In 2020, a former Ubiquiti employee launched a devastating attack against his own employer — stealing proprietary data, attempting extortion, and then posing as a whistleblower to tank the company's stock. That's
In July 2020, a Tesla employee was offered $1 million by a Russian national to plant malware inside the company's Nevada Gigafactory network. The employee reported the bribe attempt to the FBI. Tesla got lucky — most organizations never find out until after the damage is done. Understanding insider
In May 2021, a single compromised password shut down the Colonial Pipeline and triggered fuel shortages across the U.S. East Coast. The attackers used a legacy VPN account with no multi-factor authentication — a textbook example of what happens when an organization trusts its perimeter instead of verifying every access
