US fuel pipeline hackers 'didn't mean to create problems'

[Eugene]

That 400-pound hacker wouldn't lie to us, would he?

______________________________________________________________________

Source: BBC

US fuel pipeline hackers 'didn't mean to create problems'

By Mary-Ann Russon
Business reporter, BBC News

10 May 2021

A cyber-criminal gang that took a major US fuel pipeline offline over the weekend has acknowledged the incident in a public statement.

"Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society," DarkSide wrote on its website.

The US issued emergency legislation on Sunday after Colonial Pipeline was hit by a ransomware cyber-attack.

The pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels a day - 45% of the East Coast's supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel.

The operator took itself offline on Friday after the cyber-attack. Work to restore service is continuing.

On Monday, the FBI officially confirmed that DarkSide was responsible for compromising Colonial Pipeline's networks, saying that it was continuing to work with the firm and other government agencies on the investigation.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57050690

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Lol ... yeah, okay fellas ... why don't you let us know how that excuse works out for ya (nt)

[PoliticAverse]

2. Members of the jury my clients just wanted to make money with their extortion scheme not cause any

problems.

[Hokie]

3. Just spitballing but I think Colonial might have over reacted

I watched the White House briefing today and the attack was apparently confined to Colonial's business network. I worked in the refining industry and their networks that controlled the process units were separate from the business LAN. Data could flow up from the process control network to the business network but that was tightly controlled.

It sounds like DarkSide penetrated the Colonial business network with a cyberattack and Colonial shut down the pipeline in an abundance of caution. It's not like DarkSide was opening and closing valves or starting and stopping pumps.

This statement in the article is just plain stupid:

"All the devices used to run a modern pipeline are controlled by computers, rather than being controlled physically by people," he says.

People tell the computers what to do. The only difference is that modern control systems have moved from specialized computers using proprietary operating systems to PC's using Windows or Linux operating systems. Yes, computers do control equipment in a way that does what people tell it to do and protect equipment quickly when things like leaks happen. That has been going on since long before the PC.

[empedocles]

4. TY

[Hokie]

6. The statement in the article is technically corret but still stupid

Operators sit in control rooms and operate pumps, valves, and other devices from there. Whether the do it with a mouse and a PC or a push button on a graphical control panel like they did back in the 1970's is irrelevant. There are still times when operators physically go out and do things like blocking in equipment for maintenance but the day to do operation is remote and has been for 60 years or more.

[Chainfire]

5. My area is in full gasoline panic

Stations out of gas, very long lines, it is a damn mess.

[Hokie]

7. The east coast is kind of a special case

It used to be the refineries in New Jersey and Pennsylvania supplied much of the east coast demand for gasoline and diesel fuel. A lot of those refineries have shut down and now the Colonial Pipeline supplies the mid-Atlantic and east coast states with fuel from the gulf coast refineries. If the Colonial P/L shuts down the east coast is fucked.