WH Response on Paying Ransom for Pipeline Attack
District of Columbia | May 11, 2021
The Colonial Pipeline which runs from Texas to New Jersey supplies 45% of the East Coast with gasoline and other vital fuel. As such, it is a vital supply line in our infrastructure. As we reported, its business systems came under a cyber attack on Friday, so the company shut down part of its pipeline operations while an investigation is ongoing into what systems have been affected by the attack. The attack is believed to be from a group of ransomware hackers known as Dark Side. One expert called it the “the most significant and successful attack on energy infrastructure we know of in the United States.” As a result, the U.S. Department of Transportation declared a state of emergency on Sunday night. That’s causing gas worries and shortages in multiple areas in the country, as my colleague Jennifer Oliver O’Connell reported, with people lined up at the pump and gas stations being out of gas. AAA said that it would have implications upon both supply and prices, depending on region, but that areas including Mississippi, Tennessee, and the east coast from Georgia into Delaware are most likely to experience limited fuel availability and price increase..
(Excerpts from Red State)