The crucial U.S. fuel lifeline, the Colonial Pipeline, has yet to reopen after a weekend ransomware cyberattacj, but the Biden administration said it is ready to take additional action as the fuel industry starts experiencing disruptions.
Biden: Bring it On
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday that his team was ready to take additional steps in helping the energy and fuel industries manage potential problems that could arise from the cyber-attack on the Colonial Pipeline.
Regarding claims that the Kremlin ordered the ransomware cyber-attack, Biden said intelligence people have not yet found evidence that the Russian government was involved.
Criminal network DarkSide, which has been tagged as the attack's perpetrator, said in a statement that it was "apolitical" and the goal "is to make money, and not creating problems for society."
Deputy national security advisor for White House cyber and emerging technologies department, Anne Neuberger, said the administration acknowledges the difficulties that cyber-attacked companies experience.
The administration also did not confirm or deny whether Colonial has agreed to pay the ransom.
Panic-Buying in Southeastern States
Colonial has entered the fourth day of its main lines being shut down by the ransomware cyber-attack.
Due to fears of fuel shortages in areas heavily dependent on Colonial Pipeline, some residents have rushed to refuel in gas stations.
Head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, Patrick De Haan, said panic-buying was apparent in some gasoline stations across Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia.
To help ease worries, the Department of Transportation on Sunday lifted driver restrictions for fuel-hauling services in 17 states that were affected by Colonial's main lines shutdown.
It is expected that if the disruption continues, fuel suppliers will be left with no choice but to ship fuel by rail or truck.
DarkSide Reportedly Apologizes
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that DarkSide's malware was responsible for disrupting Colonial.
According to Vice News, DarkSide took to the dark web to post its seeming apology that said the group will be more careful of picking their cyber-attack targets in the future.
The group also reportedly said it will make sure in the future to "avoid social consequences." The post was titled "About the latest news" but did not directly mention Colonial Pipeline as the latest attack's victim.
Not much is known about DarkSide but cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth wrote on Twitter that the group was a "relative newcomer to ransomware." She added that the cyber criminal group targets "large corps and sometimes donate some proceeds to charities (that return the $)."
The criminals responsible, Darkside, are a relative newcomer to ransomware, but have an intriguing “code of conduct.” They will not extort hospitals, funeral homes, non profits. They do target large corps and sometimes donate some proceeds to charities (that return the $). — Nicole Perlroth (@nicoleperlroth) May 10, 2021
So far, Colonial was able to restore one of its lines but under manual control. Smaller lines are also operating, but it is expected that gasoline prices could spike in the coming days if the main lines are unrestored soon.
