House Oversight Reveals Details of Investigation into Colonial Pipeline, Other Company Hacks

WASHINGTON, November 17, 2021 – A House Oversight and Reform Committee investigation concluded in a staff memo that “small lapses” in cyber security led to hacks of Colonial Pipeline, meat producer JBS USA, and insurance group CNA Financial Corporation that occurred earlier this year.

Additionally, in Tuesday’s memo, the committee stated that the companies’ lack of “clear points of contact with the federal government” hampered response efforts to the attacks and that the companies faced a “huge” amount of pressure to pay hackers. Cyber security officials on Tuesday asked Congress to push legislation that would force companies to notify the government about cyber breaches.

The CNA hack occurred after an employee accepted a fake browser update and hackers gained access to JBS through an old account with a weak password that had not been deactivated. Colonial Pipeline was hacked as a result of just one stolen password linked to a profile, leading to gas shortages in several states.

Employees at JBS and Colonial Pipeline may have been operating on Internet of Things devices, which often only make use of mass-produced factory password settings due to limited processing power. This makes such devices extremely vulnerable to cyberattacks.

“Even large organizations with seemingly robust security systems fell victim to simple initial attacks, highlighting the need to increase security education and take other security measures prior to an attack,” reads Oversight’s memo.

Security issues for schools and libraries

Experts say that similar issues with IoT and password security are increasingly threatening cybersecurity in schools and libraries as well. During a School, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition event Wednesday, leaders in education emphasized data that shows attacks on the educational sector to continue increasing in frequency from a rate that already ranks second among all professional sectors.

Amy McLaughlin, executive director of technical and solutions architecture for Oregon State University, suggested during the event that schools and libraries expand their security beyond basic firewall that is paid for by E-rate funding and change default passwords when possible, avoiding using an administrator login, patch systems, as well as use anti-malware software on all devices.

Similarly, Bob Turner, field chief information security officer for higher education at Fortinet, stated that his organization recommends schools use multi-factor authentication.

The recently signed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act specifically allocates funding to be used for the implementation of improved cybersecurity practices in institutions including libraries, cyber security officials said Tuesday.

National security concerns

In June, Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, told CNA, JBS USA and Colonial Pipeline via letters that she was “extremely concerned that the decision to pay international criminal actors sets a dangerous precedent that will put an even bigger target on the back of critical infrastructure going forward.”

During an Oversight and Reform panel Tuesday, committee members questioned witnesses on the efforts by President Joe Biden’s administration to push back on recent ransomware attacks by Russian-based cybercriminals.