Free Republic

Last week, the Colonial Pipeline Company gave nearly $5 million to an Eastern European criminal group that hacked them. This should bother us. We should all be bothered that our government can’t protect our companies. We should all be bothered that there’s a real cyber war underway and terrible things could happen in a matter of seconds.

On taking the oath of office, Jan. 20, Joe Biden may not have realized it, but history had dealt him a pair of aces. The COVID-19 pandemic had reached its apex, infecting a quarter of a million Americans every day. Yet, due to the discovery and distribution of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the incidence of infections had crested and was about to turn sharply down. By May, the infection rate had fallen 80%, as had the death toll. Thanks to the Operation Warp Speed program driven by President Donald Trump, the country made amazing strides in Biden's first 100...

The US military pulling personnel out of Israel but first... Two members of the legislative assembly in Canada's Alberta province booted from the caucus of the ruling "United Conservative Party" tonight. They were opponents of the restrictive COVID-19 policies of Premier Jason Kenney with one of them coming out this morning calling on Kenney to resign as Premier... Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordering Border Police units deployed to deal with unrest across Israel that engulfed many cities last night as mobs of Jews and Arabs fought each other. Those units and other police overwhelmed in rioting today and tonight... Alert...

Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid almost $5 million to the hackers responsible for the cyberattack that forced the shutdown of its gas infrastructure.Colonial Pipeline paid the ransom amount using cryptocurrency within hours of the attack, highlighting the pressure the company faced to get gas flowing again to customers on the East Coast, according to Bloomberg.This contradicts reports from earlier this week that the company had no plans of paying a fee to decrypt important data files and help get the gas pipeline up and running again.

Colonial Pipeline initiated the restart of pipeline operations today at approximately 5 p.m. ET. Following this restart, it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal. Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period. Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal. As we initiate our return to service, our primary focus remains safety. As part of this startup process, Colonial will conduct a comprehensive series...

Gas stations from Florida to Virginia ran dry, and prices at the pump skyrocketed late Tuesday, as the hack attack on the biggest U.S. fuel pipeline extends into the fifth day. On Tuesday evening, 17 states and Washington, DC declared emergency declarations to address fuel shortages. The emergency declaration covers Alabama, Arkansas, D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. The Biden administration projected that the Colonial Pipeline would restart by the weekend and urged drivers not to panic hoard fuel. “We are asking people not to...

Speaking to reporters at the White House Tuesday afternoon, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm admitted that pipelines are the safest way to transport fuel. Her comments come as 17 states face a major gas shortage due to a cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline system and four months after President Joe Biden stopped construction on the Keystone XL pipeline. "Can you tell us what is the feasibility of using rail cars to transport fuel into the affected areas? I know that's being looked at," a reporter asked. "The DOT [Department of Transportation] is looking at that, and so we'll have to wait...

"If during tomorrow they do not raise the price, we will release all the data," the group added, the posts read. Chats appear to show the police department making a final offer of "$100,000 to prevent the release of stolen data." "This is unacceptable from our side," the ransomware actor responds. The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a CNN request for comment. Ransomware groups do not typically post transcripts of the negotiations, according to Brett Callow, a threat analyst at the security firm Emsisoft, who said it's unclear why they chose to do so in this case. "MPD...

Colonial Pipeline, the largest gas pipeline in the United States, temporarily shut down its operations on Friday following a ransomware attack.A major distributor of fuel from U.S. Gulf Coast refineries to the Atlantic Coast and into New York Harbor, Colonial Pipeline has 5,500 miles of pipeline and transports 45 percent of the fuel distributed on the East Coast.The incident underscores the need for oil and gas providers, utility providers, and other owners of critical infrastructure to monitor both their information technology (IT) networks (think business functions like email and billing) and their operational technologies (OT) networks (controlling the actual functioning...

Newt Gingrich on Monday night said Joe Biden should be authorized to 'order the killings of anybody overseas' who was found to be behind attacks on America's infrastructure, describing the cyberhack of the Colonial Pipeline as 'an act of war'. Gas shortages were beginning to be reported across the East Coast on Monday evening, as the pipeline was slowly brought back on line after a four-day shutdown. Hackers from DarkSide, a Russia-based network of cybercriminals, were said by the FBI to be behind the ransomware attack. On Monday they said they were mistaken to cause 'societal consequences', and only sought...

On Joe Biden’s first day in office, he shut down construction of the Keystone Pipeline. Canceling the Keystone Pipeline costs over 11,000 construction jobs and 42,100 jobs throughout the US during the construction process ....Snip.... On a personal note — a friend traveling in Mississippi says the gas stations are out of gas. It took only FOUR MONTHS for Joe Biden to ruin the US. Biden’s First 100 Days Accomplishments: – Kill Keystone XL Pipeline – Gas Lines – $3 Gas (National Avg) – Inflation – Crumbling Dollar – Rising Unemployment – Open Border Crisis – Antifa Terror Squads –...

Gas stations across the East Coast are starting to run out of fuel as one of the biggest petroleum pipelines fights to recover from a cyberattack. Specific gas stations ranging from Virginia to Florida to Alabama are reported to have run out of gas, and drivers have been surprised to find long lines or no service available. The outages come as people are rushing to the pumps to fill up, causing a spike in gasoline demand. In five states alone — Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia — gasoline demand rose more than 40% on Monday, said GasBuddy...

A group of cybercriminals allegedly responsible for the ransomware attack that shut the largest fuel pipeline in the United States said on Monday it only wants to make money, not disrupt society, as Washington scrambled to help restore the network....The FBI on Monday pinned the blame on the cyber group DarkSide. A statement in the group’s name said “our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society.” It's statement did not mention Colonial Pipeline by name.

US fuel prices are likely to hit their highest level in seven years after hackers shut down the largest oil pipeline in the US. Before the pipeline hack, average gas prices in the US clocked in at $2.96 per gallon on Friday. Prices were not expected to see another significant spike until after Memorial Day, when travel is expected to push demand even higher at the end of the month, but the oil pipeline hack has already bumped prices up as much as 4.2% on Monday morning. The 5,500-mile pipeline was shut down on Saturday after its operator, Colonial Pipeline,...

The Biden Administration believes cyberterrorism that prompted the largest refinery to shut down two crude units, paralyzing gas distribution, is a “private sector decision.” White House officials on Monday said they have not offered advice to Colonial Pipeline on whether to pay ransom to hackers who shut down a vital US pipeline.

The U.S. government and the top U.S. fuel pipeline operator on Monday worked to secure the network that transports nearly half of the East Coast's supplies as a shutdown to halt a ransomware cyberattack entered its fourth day. The attack on Colonial Pipeline last week was one of the most disruptive digital ransom schemes ever reported and has sent shockwaves across the industry. The resulting shutdown has disrupted fuel supply across the eastern United States, triggered isolated sales restrictions at retail pumps and pushed benchmark gasoline prices to a three-year high. .... The southeastern United States would likely be the...

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday said the federal government is working to avoid supply disruptions after Colonial Pipeline, the operator of the country’s largest fuel pipeline, temporarily suspended all operations due to a ransomware attack on Friday. “This is what businesses now have to worry about,” Raimondo said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Unfortunately, these sorts of attacks are becoming more frequent. They’re here to stay.” President Joe Biden has been briefed on the ransomware attack and the F.B.I. said it’s working closely with Colonial Pipeline and government partners to address the situation. The Department...

A cyberattack forced the shutdown of one of the largest pipelines in the United States, in what appeared to be a significant attempt to disrupt vulnerable energy infrastructure. The pipeline carries refined gasoline and jet fuel up the East Coast from Texas to New York. The operator of the system, Colonial Pipeline, said in a statement late Friday that it had shut down its 5,500 miles of pipeline, which it says carries 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel supplies, in an effort to contain the attack on its computer networks. Earlier Friday, there were disruptions along the pipeline, but...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. energy company says a cyberattack forced it to temporarily halt all operations on a major pipeline that delivers roughly 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast. Colonial Pipeline said the attack took place Friday and also affected some of its information technology systems. The company transports gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil from refineries primarily located on the Gulf Coast through pipelines running from Texas to New Jersey. The Alpharetta, Georgia-based company said it hired an outside cybersecurity firm to investigate the nature and scope of the attack and has also...

Colonial Pipeline halts all fuel pipeline operations in response to a cyberattack A cyberattack has forced an operational shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined products pipeline in the United States. The Colonial Pipeline Company said late Friday that it was the victim of a cyberattack, sparking the company to proactively take certain systems offline and temporarily halt all pipeline operations. The company said the attack had impacted some of its IT systems, but did not say if any of its operational technology (OT) systems were directly impacted. It's unclear if the incident involved ransomware, or was another form...