Slide number 1
Colonial Pipeline spans 5,500 miles across 14 states, serves some of the largest airports along the East Coast and provides almost half of the transportation fuels that power a large part of the country.
Crisis Communicated
Colonial Pipeline Rewrites the Rules of Cyber Crisis Communications
Crisis Communicated
Colonial Pipeline Rewrites the Rules of Cyber Crisis Communications
Key Contacts
How do you contain and control a cyber incident that spans 5,500 miles?
When faced with one of the most high-profile ransomware attacks in U.S. history, Colonial Pipeline — the largest refined products pipeline operator in the United States — turned to FTI Consulting for reputational and crisis communications counsel and expertise.
Our Impact
Colonial Pipeline successfully navigated the largest ransomware attack in U.S. history and prevented the pipeline shutdown from delivering major and lasting economic impacts along the East Coast through constant engagement with the government, the public and the media during the crisis.
Slide number 2
In May 2021, it faced a ransomware attack that targeted its IT systems. FTI Consulting was engaged to help navigate through the cyber attack, involving two distinct mandates: responding to the ransomware attack and guiding the communications around the pipeline restart process.
Slide for Project Leader and Chief Executive Discuss Data Shown on Screen. In Background Big Screen Showing Infographics of Infrastructure, Charts, System Analysis. Control Room Professionals Working.
In 2022, Colonial Pipeline received the Silver Anvil Award of Excellence from the Public Relations Society of America for its communications response to the ransomware attack and navigating a national crisis.
In crisis and transformation,what matters most is what you do next.
Our Role
Responding to the ransomware attack and managing communications around the pipeline restart process
While the cyber attack did not affect the operational technology systems that control the pipeline itself, Colonial Pipeline proactively shut down the system to prevent the ransomware from potentially spreading. The pipeline system ended up being offline for five days, creating several communications challenges the company had to navigate.
FTI Consulting provided the company with early counsel on key stakeholder engagement and helped guide the organization’s communications through the initial days and weeks following the restart of the system.
The FTI Consulting team supported the development and execution of a crisis communications strategy, produced materials for company stakeholders, supported daily briefings to senior government officials in the White House and the Department of Energy and managed the company’s media engagement, which included more than 1,000 inquiries.
FTI Consulting supported the company in the months following the event as it worked through the system hardening and data recovery phases, which included employee, customer and shipper notifications. The team also helped prepare the CEO to testify before two congressional committees about the company’s response to the ransomware attack.
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Senior Managing Director, Head of Americas Public AffairsReal-world experience that delivers.
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