A cyber attack forces the closure of an important oil pipeline that supplies fuel to the east of the country

One of the country's leading fuel oil pipeline companies, Colonial Pipeline, was forced to temporarily halt some of its operations due to a

cyberattack

, the company said in a statement Friday.

This network supplies fuel from refineries on the Gulf Coast to the east and south of the country,

from Texas to New York

.

It carries

45% of the east coast's fuel supply

, according to the company.

The company transports

2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel,

as well as other refined products over 5,500 miles (more than 8,800 kilometers).

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"We proactively shut down some systems to contain the threat, which has temporarily halted all pipeline operations and affected some of our computer systems," the company said in the statement.

And he adds that he hired a company specialized in cybersecurity to investigate "the nature and scope of this incident."

Federal authorities and agencies have been alerted, he added.

Although it

did not specify how long its pipelines will be closed.

[The list of government agencies attacked by Russian hackers grows.

This is what is known so far]

Colonial had not closed its lines in this way since Hurricane Harvey that hit the area in 2017. Due to these measures, the price of gasoline and diesel on the Gulf Coast fell on Friday.

"It's serious business

," Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service, told The New York Times.

"It could complicate things because it

is the jugular aorta of the country to move fuel from the Gulf Coast to New York,

" he added.

The United States has been the target of several cyberattacks by foreign agents.

Last month, President Joe Biden issued a wide range of sanctions against Russia in retaliation for the recent cyberattack on the SolarWinds company that affected numerous government entities.

The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the National Institutes of Health and parts of the Department of Defense were some of the government agencies victims of this cyberattack that was attributed to Russian hackers.

With information from AP, Reuters and The New York Times.