Colonial Pipeline's tech audit revealed "glaring" flaws.

BOSTON (AP) — An outside audit three years ago of the major East Coast pipeline company hit by a cyberattack found “atrocious” information management practices and “a patchwork of poorly connected and secured systems,” its author told The Associated Press.

“We found glaring deficiencies and big problems,” said Robert F. Smallwood, whose consulting firm delivered an 89-page report in January 2018 after a six-month audit. “I mean an eighth-grader could have hacked into that system.”

How far the company, Colonial Pipeline, went to address the vulnerabilities isn’t clear. Colonial said Wednesday that since 2017, it has hired four independent firms for cybersecurity risk assessments and increased its overall IT spending by more than 50%. While it did not specify an amount, it said it has spent tens of millions of dollars.

“We are constantly assessing and improving our security practices — both physical and digital,” the privately held Georgia company said in response to questions from the AP about the audit’s findings. It did not name the firms who did cybersecurity work but one firm, Rausch Advisory Services, located in Atlanta near Colonial’s headquarters, acknowledged being among them. Colonial’s chief information officer sits on Rausch’s advisory board.

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