{"id":340,"date":"2026-10-02T16:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T16:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/?page_id=340"},"modified":"2026-10-05T17:16:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T17:16:37","slug":"colonial-pipeline-paper","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/colonial-pipeline-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Colonial Pipeline Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Course: CS 462 &#8211; Cybersecurity Fundamentals<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Artifact Type: Research Paper<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Semester: Fall 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This paper examined the 2021 Colonial Pipeline cyberattack as a case study in cybersecurity and critical infrastructure. I researched how the attack occurred, the impact of the ransomware incident on the Colonial Pipeline&#8217;s operations, and the broader consequences cause by this shutdown. I also researched security weaknesses associated with the incident and considered lessons that organizations can apply to reduce the risk and impact of similar attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In this paper, I analyzed both the technical and organizational aspects of the Colonial Pipeline attack. My research considered how compromised credentials , remote access, and weaknesses in authentication contributed to the incident, as well as the role of ransomware and other attacker activity. I also looked into the effects of the attack beyond the compromised systems, including fuel shortages, operational disruption, financial loss, and changes to cybersecurity requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I concluded the paper by identifying lessons organizations can take form the incident, including the importance of stronger identity and access management, multi-factor authentication, updated remote access practices, and incident response planning. This helped me consider how cybersecurity failure can develop into a much larger business and infrastructure problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Artifact <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"434\" height=\"535\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38478\/2026\/10\/image.png-7.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-382\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Figure 1. Opening analysis from my case study<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"419\" height=\"526\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38478\/2026\/10\/image.png-8.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-383\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Figure 2. Analysis of cybersecurity lessons and recommendations identified form the attack<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Skills Demonstrated<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Colonial Pipeline attack showed me how closely cybersecurity and business operations can be connected. A security failure that began with access to an organization&#8217;s systems eventually contributed to disruptions that reached far beyond the network itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Analyzing the incident required me to determine what contributed to the attack and identify security practices that could reduce similar attacks. This allowed me to practice evaluating a real cybersecurity incident and developing conclusions based on what went wrong and what could have been handled differently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Course: CS 462 &#8211; Cybersecurity Fundamentals Artifact Type: Research Paper Semester: Fall 2025 Overview This paper examined the 2021 Colonial Pipeline cyberattack as a case study in cybersecurity and critical infrastructure. I researched how the attack occurred, the impact of the ransomware incident on the Colonial Pipeline&#8217;s operations, and the broader consequences cause by this&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/colonial-pipeline-paper\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":30530,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/340"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/340\/revisions\/384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/ycarp001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}