Non-random thought: It wasn't a cyber-attack.
?? Theory ??
Why do I say that? --Because it's the excuse that the press is reporting.
What? You mean a company that supplies a critical fuel with great profit margins didn't have the foresight to have protections in place plus at least one, if not multiple, backup plans to continue operations in the event of a disaster? Seems perfectly normal. Nothing to see here. You folks are conspiracy theorists.
I worked in IT for a natural gas distribution company for 10 years. I absolutely believe that they didn't have protections in place for their SCADA systems. That part is probably true. But...
I also know we wouldn't have shut down the whole gas system for a ransomware attack. The computers that control their SCADA systems could be reimaged in a couple of hours and the pipeline has manual controls for just this kind of situation.
Thank you for the education. I wasn't too far off!
Resolved, then: it's either Cabal shutting down their pipeline for market-rigging purposes, or white-hats/patriots-in-control shutting it down to thwart a potential terrorist plot they'd gotten wind of of. --Blowing up a pipeline now doesn't result in that massive of a fire; it'd only burn what was in that particular section.
It also occurs to me that surreptitious travel by "pig" is now no longer possible, although I suspect that such a thing was never more than the provenance of Bond films.
Hmmm. Travel by "pig". Pipeline shut down to stop human trafficking? Yeah, I think I need to get some more coffee.