US Fuel Pipeline Cyber Attack

Over the past years, a shocking and sudden rise in the number of cyber-attacks and frauds has been witnessed by the American government. As of 2020, the amount of monetary damage suffered by the American economy due to cyber attacks is reportedly 42 billion dollars. This is a huge increase from 183.1 million dollars in 2005.

Until now, only individuals were being targeted by these hackers. However, a fuel pipeline approximately 8900km in length which carries an average of 2.5 million barrels per day on the East Coast, was attacked. On 10 May, The FBI confirmed its suspicions the criminal gang called ‘DarkSide’ accountable for the ransomware attack. The operator was offline after the cyber attack on Friday. According to a BBC report, supplies tightened across the United States resulting in a rise in price. Consequently, a number of states including Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida declared an emergency.

Following the attack, Colonial Pipeline issued a statement to the press in order to warn the public that the delivery supply chain would need a couple of days to return to normal. “Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period,” they added.

But how exactly was a fuel pipeline shut down by hackers? It is no secret that in view of technological development, almost every firm and operation around the globe has established an online presence and store sensitive, vital and crucial information on the net itself. Likewise, the operation that Colonial Pipeline runs is completely digital. As the BBC states, the flow of diesel, petrol, and jet fuel across the piping are monitored and controlled by pressure sensors, thermostats, and valves. This operation technology which is connected to a central system ultimately is in a vulnerable position with regards to cyber attacks.

Even though the American government asked the people to remain calm as they were monitoring the situation, hundreds of people rushed to nearby petrol stations in order to fill up their vehicles.

While the president, Joe Biden was giving a speech about the economy at the White House, he addressed the issue and stated that he was ‘being personally briefed on the situation ‘ every day. In addition to this, he said “The supplied across the government have acted quickly to mitigate any impact on our fuel supply. We are prepared to take additional steps depending on how quickly the company is able to bring its pipeline back up to capacity.”

Various reports have also stated that many cyber-security researchers speculated the possibility of DarkSide being Russian as it has been observed that their software does not encrypt any computer systems where the language is set as Russian. The American president also spoke out on this speculation and that the American government was concerned about this side of the attack.

"I'm gonna be meeting with President Putin and so far there is no evidence, based on our intelligence people, that Russia is involved," he said.

Furthermore, DarkSide issued a public apology on its website and wrote, “ Our goal is to make money and not make any problems for the society.” The group also indicated that it was ‘apolitical’ in its disposition. It added, “ We do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for our motives.”

In its defense, the group issued a statement indicating that it was unaware that Colonial was being targeted, saying: “ From today, we introduce moderation and check each company that our partners want to encrypt to avoid social consequences in the future.”

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