When it comes to potential future gas shortages in Arizona, it might come as a result of a cyber attack more often than something happening with the infrastructure leading into the state.
Dale Rogers, an Arizona State University professor specializing in supply chains, said government officials once thought the greatest danger to the U.S. fuel supply would be a physical threat to places such as the Port of Houston — one of the world’s largest ports on the Gulf Coast and known for the export of crude oil.
But the latest threat — which targeted the Colonial Pipeline that originates in Houston and supplies much of the Southeast — came in the form of ransomware, a type of computer attack that can encrypt data and computer systems until a fee is paid. Attacks can happen with something as simple as running outdated software.
