Yahoo Finance UPDATE 1-Tough job to fill? Colonial pipeline cyber manager job goes vacant
(Adds company comment)
By Devika Krishna Kumar
May 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. pipeline shut down by ransomware hackers late last week is looking for a cyber manager at its Atlanta headquarters in a job ad posted more than a month ago.
The position as the Manager, Cyber Security at Colonial Pipeline's headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia remains open, according to the company's website and a job listing on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/2424476354/?alternateChannel=search&refId=9xNNW%2FjvOl6DPthPi6fUpg%3D%3D&trackingId=sgeTGLBcsMzrPrjsyW%2F4vA%3D%3D So far, there have been 32 applicants on LinkedIn.
"This is a role that we have been looking to add in an effort to continue building our current cyber security team," the company said in a statement.
The pipeline, which supplies nearly half of the fuel on the East Coast, has been shut since Friday after a ransomware attack the FBI attributed to DarkSide. President Joe Biden has said there is evidence the group operates out of Russia.
The outage, which has led to higher gasoline prices and fears of shortages https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/panicked-drivers-southeast-us-swarm-pumps-ignore-pleas-stop-hoarding-2021-05-12 and potential price gouging, has highlighted the lack of requirements for pipelines to implement cyber defenses. https://www.reuters.com/technology/cyberattack-exposes-lack-required-defenses-us-pipelines-2021-05-12
Aside from making sure its systems are clear of the ransomware, Colonial's new cyber security manager will be responsible for developing the company's security standards, designing its policies, and warding off future attacks.
The company, which said it had bolstered its cyber team under a chief information officer in 2017, did not say who the new role would report to.
Colonial said it had increased IT spending, which includes cybersecurity, by more than 50% since 2017.
"We have also been focused on attracting and retaining seasoned, top-tier technical talent as well as investing in a number of upgrades to our cybersecurity program," the company said. (Reporting by Devika Krishnar Kumar, Editing by Leela de Kretser, Alexandra Hudson)
