We should also be bothered that something that’s been done for decades without computers now cannot be done without computers.
Exactly!
AT THE VERY LEAST, the pipeline control system ought to be an ENTIRELY SEPARATE network, with ZERO internet connectivity.
We crossed that line decades ago. Sophisticated digital control systems began entering the market in the mid and late 70s. I was there for the transition from pneumatic control systems (running big power plants) to distributed digital systems. We started seeing digital pressure gauges replacing traditional Bourdon Tube gauges and it was then off to the races from simple measurement to full control.
What people haven’t understood until this Colonial problem is that the front-office systems are deeply intertwined with the control systems. If you cannot process sales contracts and communicate their details to the production department, you cannot deliver the correct product to the desired location at the right time in the right quantity. This “hack” (if it really was) showed that in spades.