U.S. government to help Colonial Pipeline recover from a cyberattack
Category: #business  | By Mateen Dalal  | Date: 2021-05-10 |
  • shareshare_icon
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

U.S. government to help Colonial Pipeline recover from a cyberattack

Reportedly, the U.S. government is closely working with Colonial Pipeline, a prominent fuel pipeline provider, to assist it in recovering from a ransomware cyberattack that forced the company to shut down a vital fuel network supplying populated eastern states.

The attack is one of the most destructive digital ransom operations ever recorded, prompting calls from lawmakers in the United States to strengthen cybersecurity for critical energy infrastructure in the country.

Gina Raimondo, Commerce Secretary, mentioned that Washington was working to prevent further fuel supply disruptions and assist Colonial in restarting its more than 5,500-mile (8,850-kilometer) pipeline network from Texas to New Jersey as soon as possible.

Colonial said that it is constantly tracking the effect of this temporary service halt and working to get service back up and running. Raimondo or the company gave no specific time for a restart, and Colonial refused to comment further.

It is worth noting that Colonial transports about 2.5 million barrels of gasoline and other fuels a day from Gulf Coast refineries to customers in the southeastern U.S. and mid-Atlantic.

While the investigation by the U.S. government is still in its early stages, a former US official and two industry sources said the hackers are most likely some cybercriminal organization, with DarkSide being one of the potential suspects, reported sources.

For those unversed, DarkSide is infamous for using ransomware to extort money from victims while avoiding post-Soviet countries. Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts data and demands payment to regain access to the system.

Knowledgeable sources cited that DarkSide hackers broke into Colonial's network and stole nearly 100 gigabytes of the company’s data prior to the pipeline shutdown.

A London-based cybersecurity firm, Digital Shadows, said that the Colonial Pipeline cyber-attack might be due to an increasing number of engineers remotely accessing pipeline control systems from home owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source Credit –

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/us-government-working-to-help-top-fuel-pipeline-operator-after-cyberattack-1800603-2021-05-09

  • shareshare_icon
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn


About Author

Mateen Dalal     twitter

Mateen Dalal

A qualified electronics and telecommunication engineer, Mateen Dalal embarked on his professional journey working as a quality and test engineer. Harnessing his passion for content creation however, Mateen pens down industry-rich articles for ReportsGO.com and a few o...

Read More..

More News By Mateen Dalal

Hyundai Motor Company & Advent sign JDA to develop fuel cell technology

Hyundai Motor Company & Advent sign JDA to develop fuel cell technology

By Mateen Dalal

Hyundai Motor Company and Advent Technologies have entered into a joint development agreement, following the assessment of Advent’s Proprietary Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) technology. The evaluation was focused on the ability of Advent&rs...

Intellect chooses IHH Healthcare to devise mental health programs

Intellect chooses IHH Healthcare to devise mental health programs

By Mateen Dalal

Intellect, a leading mental health platform located in Singapore, has reportedly announced a partnership with IHH Healthcare, which is Asia’s largest private healthcare group. The main objective of the partnership is to introduce and customize ...

Dyson compensates employees with onetime payment in absence of bonus

Dyson compensates employees with onetime payment in absence of bonus

By Mateen Dalal

Dyson, a British company renowned for its innovative vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and other products, is reportedly offering a majority of the staff at its Singapore headquarters a one-time payment, in recognition of their exceptional contribution. ...