Tag Archive for: pipeline

Cyberattack on US pipeline could affect gas prices

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A cyberattack on a vital U.S. pipeline is threatening to send gas prices skyrocketing across the country.

The Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline was forced to shut down the pipeline after it was hit by a ransomware attack, in which hackers from a cyber-criminal gang called DarkSide, infiltrated their network, seized data and locked up computer systems.

“This is one of my worst nightmares comes to light,” said cyber security expert Theresa Payton, with Fortalice Solutions.

The 5,500-mile system carries gasoline and diesel from Texas to states throughout the Southeast and up to New York harbor. Over the weekend, the national average price of gas climbed above $3 per gallon.

However, according to AAA, the attack shouldn’t impact gas prices in Tampa and throughout Florida, since the state isn’t largely reliant on the system.

But AAA leaders warn prices may increase due to supply needs in other areas of the country.

The Department of Energy is leading the federal response to the incident. Homeland Security and the FBI are also involved.

“It’s an all hands on deck effort right now. And we are working closely with the company, state and local officials to, you know, make sure that hey get back up to normal operations,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

As of Monday morning, there was no clear timeline for when they would be able to restore the system.

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Russian criminal group suspected in Colonial pipeline ransomware attack

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WASHINGTON — A Russian criminal group may be responsible for a ransomware attack that shut down a major U.S. fuel pipeline, two sources familiar with the matter said Sunday.

The group, known as DarkSide, is relatively new, but it has a sophisticated approach to the business of extortion, the sources said.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Sunday that the White House was working to help Colonial Pipeline, the Georgia-based company that operates the pipeline, to restart its 5,500-mile network.

The system, which runs from Texas to New Jersey, transports 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel supply. In a statement Sunday, the company said that some smaller lateral lines were operational but that the main lines remained down.

“We are in the process of restoring service to other laterals and will bring our full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations,” the company said.

Raimondo said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the effort to restart the network was “an all-hands-on-deck effort right now.”

“We are working closely with the company, state and local officials to make sure that they get back up to normal operations as quickly as possible and there aren’t disruptions in supply,” she said, adding: “Unfortunately, these sorts of attacks are becoming more frequent. They’re here to stay.”

A White House official said Sunday that the Energy Department is leading the government’s response. Agencies are planning for a number of scenarios in which the region’s fuel supply takes a hit, the official said.

On Saturday, Colonial Pipeline blamed the cyberattack on ransomware and said some of its information technology systems were affected. It said it “proactively” took “certain systems offline to contain the threat.”

The company has not said what was demanded or who made the demand.

Although Russian hackers often freelance for the Kremlin, early indications suggest that this was a criminal scheme — not an attack by a nation-state — the sources said.

But the fact that Colonial had to shut down the country’s largest gasoline pipeline underscores just how vulnerable the U.S. cyber infrastructure is to criminals and…

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Biden to step up cybersecurity after hackers hit vital oil pipeline

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The Biden administration is to step up cybersecurity measures after a ransomware attack crippled the biggest oil pipeline on the American east coast.

n executive order is expected within weeks, instructing federal agencies and contractors to plug security gaps that have left them vulnerable to a wave of cyber attacks in recent months.

The latest assault, on the 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline which provides nearly half the fuel used on the east coast, is thought to have been carried out by DarkSide, a cybercriminal group believed to operate between Russia and Eastern Europe.

It wrought havoc on the company’s computer network, forcing the shutdown of the pipeline, which runs from Texas to New Jersey.

It is feared the attack, one of the most damaging ever reported, could cause a further spike in fuel prices in the US, which have already been increasing in recent months.

Colonial, which normally carries 2.5 million barrels a day, serves consumers…

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Ransom group linked to Colonial Pipeline hack is new but experienced

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By Raphael Satter



Projection of cyber code on hooded man is pictured in this illustration picture

© Reuters/Kacper Pempel
Projection of cyber code on hooded man is pictured in this illustration picture

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The ransomware group linked to the extortion attempt that has snared fuel deliveries across the U.S. East Coast may be new, but that doesn’t mean its hackers are amateurs.

Who precisely is behind the disruptive intrusion into Colonial Pipeline hasn’t been made officially known and digital attribution can be tricky, especially early on in an investigation. A former U.S. official and two industry sources have told Reuters that the group DarkSide is among the suspects.

Cybersecurity experts who have tracked DarkSide said it appears to be composed of veteran cybercriminals who are focused on squeezing out as much money as they can from their targets.

“They’re very new but they’re very organized,” Lior Div, the chief executive of Boston-based security firm Cybereason, said on Sunday.

“It looks like someone who’s been there, done that.”

DarkSide is one of a number of increasingly professionalized groups of digital extortionists, with a mailing list, a press center, a victim hotline and even a supposed code of conduct intended to spin the group as reliable, if ruthless, business partners.

Experts like Div said DarkSide was likely composed of ransomware veterans and that it came out of nowhere in the middle of last year and immediately unleashed a digital crimewave.

“It’s as if someone turned on the switch,” said Div, who noted that more than 10 of his company’s customers have fought off break-in attempts from the group in the past few months.

Ransom software works by encrypting victims’ data; typically hackers will offer the victim a key in return for cryptocurrency payments that can run into the hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. If the victim resists, hackers are increasingly threatening to leak confidential data in a bid to pile on the pressure.

Gallery: Could your Facebook profile be up for sale? (Lovemoney)

text, letter: It has recently emerged that personal details from more than 530 million Facebook accounts have been posted to a hacking forum and are on sale for very little money. Information such as email addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth have been breached and, according to CyberNews, the data is likely to have been on sale since last June. It has been reported that 32 million of these accounts were based in the US, and 11 million in the UK. Facebook has responded by stating the data breach was related to an old hack, which was "found and fixed" in August 2019. But as most people don't regularly change email addresses or phone numbers, it remains a security risk for many. The leak could lead to a heavy fine in Europe, where the EU imposed strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules from May 2018, unless Facebook can prove that the breach took place before those data regulations were put in place. Ireland's data protection agency launched its own investigation into the data breach last week. But Facebook is not the only business to have a data breach come to light in the past year. Click or scroll through the major company and government hacks and data breaches that have put our valuable information at risk.

DarkSide’s site on the dark web hints at their hackers’ past crimes, claims they previously made millions from extortion and that just because their software was new “that…

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