Colonial Pipeline

US fuel pipeline hackers reveal their motive

Colonial Pipeline was forced to suspend miles of pipeline after network breach
Pro
Image: Colonial Pipeline

11 May 2021

The hackers behind the ransomware attack on the largest pipeline operator in the US, Colonial Pipeline, have revealed the motive behind the data theft.

According to a statement released by DarkSide, the group responsible for the attack, the cyber criminals were not planning to create issues for the general public. The hackers went on to maintain that their goals were purely financial and that the hacking group was “apolitical” and not state-backed.

“Our goal is to make money, and not creating [sic] problems for society,” hackers stated in a post on their website, adding that there is no “need to tie” them with any particular government. The hacking group had been suspected to be supported by a Russian or other post-Soviet state due to their history of targeting US organisations.

DarkSide pledged to carry out checks on fellow cyber criminals “to avoid consequences in the future” similar to the ones created by their attack on Colonial Pipeline, which took place late last week.

The pipeline operator has released a new statement confirming that its services will remain inactive for another few days and that it will attempt to restore them in a phased approach:

“This plan is based on a number of factors with safety and compliance driving our operational decisions, and the goal of substantially restoring operational service by the end of the week,” the company announced.

At time of writing Colonial Pipeline’s website was inaccessible due to a 502 Bad Gateway error.

© Dennis Publishing


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