May 18, 2021

USA: FBI Confirmed DarkSide Ransomware Behind Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack. Fuel Shortages In 18 States Caused By Pipeline Shutdown. Darkside Hackers Paid To Restore The Company's Disabled Network

NTD News
written by Jack Phillips, The Epoch Times
Monday May 10, 2021

The FBI on Monday confirmed that the DarkSide ransomware was used in the hack of the Colonial Pipeline, which prompted the U.S. Department of Transportation on Sunday to declare a state of emergency for 17 states due to potential fuel shortages.

The law enforcement agency said that the DarkSide cybercriminal ring stole a large amount of data before it locked Colonial’s computers with ransomware—considered possibly the most destructive ransomware attack so far.

“The FBI confirms that the Darkside ransomware is responsible for the compromise of the Colonial Pipeline networks. We continue to work with the company and our government partners on the investigation,” the agency said Monday. The FBI did not provide further details that those two lines.

According to the Boston-based Cybereason firm, DarkSide is an organized group of hackers who sell ransomware to other criminals to carry out cyberattacks.

DarkSide, according to Cybereason, appeared to issue a statement on its website. It said that it is apolitical and only wants to make money.

“We are apolitical, we do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for our motives,” the statement said, according to Cybereason. “Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society. From today we introduce moderation and check each company that our partners want to encrypt to avoid social consequences in the future.”

Meanwhile, on Monday, Colonial said that it “proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which temporarily halted all pipeline operations, and affected some of our IT systems,” and added that “to restore service, we must work to ensure that each of these systems can be brought back online safely.”

“While this situation remains fluid and continues to evolve, the Colonial operations team is executing a plan that involves an incremental process that will facilitate a return to service in a phased approach,” said its statement. “This plan is based on a number of factors with safety and compliance driving our operational decisions, and the goal of substantially restoring operational service by the end of the week.”

And on Sunday, the Department of Transportation declared a regional state of emergency over the ransomware attack.

“This Declaration addresses the emergency conditions creating a need for immediate transportation of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products and provides necessary relief,” the agency said.

The affected states, according to the DOT, are Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Bloomberg News
written by Ari Natter
Monday May 10, 2021 👈👈👈

The leader of the company whose fuel pipeline was paralyzed by a cyber attack warned state officials in a private meeting Monday that supply shortages could occur even as it plans to reopen the line later this week, according to a person familiar with the discussion.

Colonial Pipeline Co. Chief Executive Officer Joseph Blount said the company was in the process of developing an extensive restart plan, but wouldn’t resume shipments until the ransomware had been removed, according to the person, who was involved in the 18-minute virtual meeting that also featured Deputy U.S. Energy Secretary David Turk.

Blount made it clear the Alpharetta, Georgia-based company had complete operational control of the pipeline and said it was working with refiners, marketers and retailers to prevent outages, according to the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the discussion.

A company representative confirmed the meeting but declined to discuss details.

Colonial Pipeline has said it’s manually operating a segment of the pipeline running from North Carolina to Maryland and expects to substantially restore all service by the weekend. The pledge may not come fast enough to avert immediate shortages in the U.S. Southeast, where gas stations from North Carolina to Florida reported selling out of fuel Monday.

The 5,500-mile pipeline transports about 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast making it the nation’s biggest. It has been offline since Friday after it fell victim to a ransomware attack by hackers.

“It tells you how utterly vulnerable we are,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said during an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power” program. “We’re seeing all of these examples of ransomware attacks coming -- whether it’s telecommunications or this critical infrastructure. And obviously in my lane I’m very worried about the energy infrastructure.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement late Monday night that “we are monitoring supply shortages in parts of the Southeast and are evaluating every action the administration can take to mitigate the impact as much as possible.”
UPDATE 5/21/21 at 12:19pm: Added info below.
BlazeTV published May 21, 2021: Sen. Ted Cruz just exposed the Biden administration in a BIG way and the mainstream media won't ever cover it! WATCH Psaki get NASTY when reporter HAMMERS her with tough questions.

UPDATE 5/21/21 at 1:56pm: Added info below.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 6:16 PM

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