In May 2021, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack showed how quickly a compromised account can become a national issue. The attackers reportedly achieved initial access through an inactive VPN account without multi-factor authentication (MFA), hit business systems including billing infrastructure, and triggered a shutdown that disrupted fuel supply across the U.S. East Coast.
Five years later, the lessons learned from Colonial Pipeline have more relevance than ever. Critical infrastructure is attractive because disruption creates pressure far beyond the breached organization.
Today, that pressure is rising as state-backed actors look for persistence inside critical infrastructure networks, not just to steal data, but to hold access that could be used in a crisis.
The initial attack path is familiar, with threat actors exploiting stolen credentials, unmanaged devices, compromised laptops, remote access tools and weak access controls. Zero trust offers a security model that is quickly becoming an operational necessity for organizations that deliver essential services.
The identity threat facing critical infrastructure
