The United States government had to declare a regional state of emergency due to a cyber attack on one of the largest oil pipeline networks in the country, which became inactive.
The pipelines, operated by Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline, transport gasoline and other fuels from Texas to the Northeast.
A group of hackers completely disconnected and stole more than 100 GB of information from the Colonial Pipeline, which carries more than 2.5 million barrels per day, 45% of the supply of diesel, gasoline and fuel consumed by the planes of the East Coast.
The priority of the White House at the moment is to guarantee the supply of fuel, for which measures are already being applied.
For many experts, the attacks should not affect the supply of gasoline, unless the shutdown extends for more than 6 days.
The organization that is awarded these attacks is called Darside, which uses an image of Robin Hood, robs corporations and gives a part to charity, according to information from investigators close to the case.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that data hijacking (ransomware) attacks are “what businesses now have to worry about” and that she will work “very vigorously” with the Department of Homeland Security to address the problem, calling it of extreme concern to the administration.
“Unfortunately, these types of attacks are becoming more frequent. We have to work in partnership with companies to protect networks and defend ourselves from these attacks, ”said Raimondo.
The cybersecurity company Digital Shadows, headquartered in London, and which tracks these types of criminals, mentions that access to the system was possible for hackers due to the high number of engineers who remotely access the control systems of the pipeline.
Digital Shadows suggests that the hackers who caused this offensive probably came from a Russian-speaking country.
Last April, US authorities sanctioned Russia for allegedly hacking into the systems of government agencies and corporations.