Colonial Ransomware Attack Raises Questions about Cybersecurity

A cyberattack on a major gasoline pipeline in the United States has been identified as a ransomware attack, which means that the aim of the attackers is likely to receive money and not perpetuating a political message or cause instability in the American energy sector.

The attackers, a group called DarkSide claiming to be apolitical, accused by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said through their website that the goal is to make money, not creating problems for society, Reuters reported.

The attack has crippled the pipeline and led to the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline network, which is expected to cause a huge disruption in the U.S. fuel industry.

Media reports did not indicate the requested sum, with officials saying they were not involved in negotiations with the attackers.

Meanwhile, Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount said the company is developing a restart plan, warning state officials that the market could see supply shortages, despite plans to reopen the pipeline later this week, according to Bloomberg.

Blount’s remarks reportedly came during an 18-minute virtual meeting, in which the Deputy Secretary of Energy, David Turk, participated.

The CEO said the company is working with refiners and distributors to limit the impacts of the attack and avoid outages.

It is worth noting that the attack led to the shutdown of two units by the largest U.S. crude oil refinery, Motiva Enterprises, which produces more than 600,000 barrels per day.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, told reporters earlier today that there is evidence linking the attackers to being based in Russia. But so far there is no evidence pointing to the involvement of the Russian government.

The incident raises the importance of cybersecurity in the modern age across most domains, with one attack potentially leaving an impact on entire industries and potentially economies.

“It tells you how utterly vulnerable we are. We are seeing all of these examples of ransomware attacks coming, whether it is telecommunications or this critical infrastructure. And obviously in my lane I am very worried about the energy infrastructure,” the U.S. Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, said in a Bloomberg TV interview.