RANSOMWARE ATTACKS reached new heights in early May when hackers hit Colonial Pipeline and demanded payment for 100GB of stolen data. The company operates the biggest fuel pipeline in the country, running 5,500 miles from Houston in Texas to Linden in New Jersey. It supplies about 45 percent of the gas, diesel, and aviation fuel for the whole East Coast—over 2.5 billion barrels a day. It’s not clear if the hackers had the ability to trigger dangerous events, but Colonial Pipeline had little choice other than to hit the “off” switch. This led to unscheduled plane landings to refuel elsewhere, panic buying, and a jump in gas prices. Colonial Pipeline also had little option but to pay— about $5 million in bitcoin. Normal service (mostly) was resumed five days later.