U.S. announces new security directives for pipelines after hack

FILE PHOTO: Holding tanks are seen in an aerial photograph at Colonial Pipeline's Charlotte Tank Farm in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Drone Base

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Department of Homeland Security issued a new security directive for pipeline owners and operators on Thursday after a hack of the Colonial Pipeline disrupted fuel supplies in the southeastern United States for days this month.

"The recent ransomware attack on a major petroleum pipeline demonstrates that the cybersecurity of pipeline systems is critical to our homeland security," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.