Colonial Pipeline claims it is only days away from resuming entire operations after a cyberattack, raising questions about why the nation's largest fuel pipeline has been out of service for a week. Gas prices have risen to a seven-year high, prompting warnings of gas shortages and panic purchasing all over the East Coast, with commuters queuing for gasoline from Florida to Virginia.
Fixing Colonial Pipeline would take a week
However, as the closure enters its sixth day, it is unclear why Colonial is taking so long to resume normal activities despite promising to restore operations by the end of the week substantially. Colonial revealed last Friday that it had suspended activities after being hit by a cyberattack that had impacted some of its systems. Colonial supplies about 45 percent of the gasoline purchased on the East Coast.
Colonial has only tried to restore some services after suddenly closing down the 5,500-mile pipeline that runs from Texas to New Jersey and has only provided a hazy timetable for when things will be back up and running. Multiple considerations, like if Colonial paid the ransom and, if so, when it was issued, the decryption key that could unscramble it, could delay the restoration of its structures.
Criminal hackers usually carry out ransomware attacks, encrypting data and paralyzing victim networks before requesting huge sums of money to decrypt it. According to cyber experts, decryption will take several days.
Colonial has declined to reveal whether it has paid or is negotiating a ransom after the FBI confirmed the attack was carried out by DarkSide, a Russian hacking group of ransomware veterans. Per Daily Mail, the extent to which its processes have been infected can influence how easily Colonial will repair them.
Colonial has only confirmed that the hack only infected its IT processes, not the pipeline itself. On Thursday, hackers stole nearly 100 gigabytes of data from Colonial's network before requesting a ransom. Third Bridge analysts said the pipeline uses both standard and custom technology solutions, complicating attempts to get the whole network back online.
17 states declare emergency over Colonial Pipeline hack
Concerns that the Colonial Pipeline closure could result in gasoline shortages across the US Southeast have prompted 17 states to declare emergencies due to the incident. "Just like there was no need to hoard toilet paper at the start of the pandemic, there should be no need to hoard gasoline," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said at a White House press conference on Tuesday, as per The Independent.
Granholm agreed that there would be a gasoline shortage in states that depend on the pipeline for around 70 percent of their overall petrol, including Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. Residents, on the other hand, should not be worried about a gasoline shortage.
As a result of the pipeline outage, emergency orders have been released in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Arkansas, Alabama, DC, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia are all included in the emergency declaration. Due to the pipeline shutdown, gas stations across the Southeast have already started running out of fuel.
GOP urges more actions from Biden administration after Colonial Pipeline hacking
According to some Republicans, the closure of a significant fuel pipeline could serve as a wake-up call to the Biden administration that the US needs to spend more on oil and gas exploration and boost its capacity to fight cyberattacks. According to Fox News, Rep. August Pfluger, whose district covers the oil-producing Permian Basin, said, "This is vital infrastructure. The industry, which provides fuel to heat and cool homes so that commuting can take place, is vital infrastructure."
Pfluger hopes that this attack would force the Biden administration to reconsider its fossil fuel policies and the Keystone XL pipeline closure. He also believes that the partial closure will help Americans understand how the oil and gas sector supports their living and travel plans.
On Friday, the Colonial Pipeline, which transports about 45 percent of the fuel used on the East Coast, was hacked. Once again, the attack sparked questions about the weakness of the country's vital infrastructure.
The fifth day of the pipeline closure has real-world consequences for commuters, with long delays, price hikes, and gasoline shortages at some East Coast gas stations. Due to fuel shortage issues, North Carolina and Virginia have both declared states of emergency.
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