Colonial Pipeline — DarkSide ransomware shutdown

What happened

DarkSide ransomware compromised Colonial Pipeline's IT network, and the company proactively shut down its entire 5,500-mile refined-products system — which carries over 100 million gallons a day, nearly half the US East Coast's fuel — for about five days as a containment precaution. The shutdown triggered fuel shortages, panic buying, price spikes and emergency declarations across the southeastern US. Colonial paid a ransom of roughly $4.4 million, part of which the Department of Justice later recovered. The operational technology systems were not confirmed to be directly compromised; the disruption came from the precautionary shutdown. The marker is placed at Colonial's Alpharetta, Georgia headquarters.