It has been reported by Bloomberg Law that the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack was caused by a “single compromised password.” The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack had consumers hoarding gasoline and disrupted distribution of gas along the east coast. One single compromised password.

Colonial Pipeline paid $4.4 million in ransom following the attack, although the Department of Justice (DOJ) was able to recover $2.3 million of that payment  by seizing the crypto wallet used by the attackers. A payment of $4.4 million because of one single compromised password.

What is worse is that the account the password was connected to was not an active account, but could still be used to access the network. I am surmising, but this usually happens when someone leaves the company and the account and access is not terminated. The initial user may have used the password across platforms, the password was compromised and obtained by DarkSide on the dark web, and presto!, they can go into Colonial’s system with the valid password undetected.

We constantly are told how important passwords are. I like to use long passphrases. We are told not to use the same passwords across platforms. We are told not to use passwords that are related to anything we post on social media or online platforms. We are told all of this for a reason. Because one compromised password can cause a gas shortage, a meat shortage, contaminated water, millions of dollars paid in ransom, and disruption to our lives. Do your part and focus on password management for yourself personally, as well as for your employer.