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Americans Panic Buy Petrol Inside Nylon Bags And Kegs After Pipeline Was Hacked
Americans panic buy petrol inside nylon bags and kegs after pipeline was hacked by cyber-criminal gang, DarkSide.
U.S. Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid a ransom close to $5million (N2.043 billion) to the hackers.
Sources said Colonial Pipeline paid in cryptocurrency that was not traceable hours after the attack.
Thousands of gas stations across several southeastern United States ran out of fuel last week after a cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline Co. forced the operator of the largest U.S. fuel pipeline to close its services.
The incident, which stretched to this week before services was restored on Wednesday, resulted to panic buying as drivers waited in long lines for fuel.
Although government and industry officials said the nation had plenty of fuel, nervous drivers clogged gas stations and created shortages in parts or all of 11 states.
According to reports, at least 12,000 gas stations reported being completely empty. The incident pushed the price of a gallon past $3, raising the average U.S. gasoline price to the highest in 6½ years.
Images shared shows several lines of motorists queuing up to fill up their tanks. Some were seen buying buying fuel in plastic nylons and kegs – a scene that is very popular in Nigeria.
Reacting to the unsafe act, the US Consumer Product and Safety Commission said :
“Do not fill plastic bags with gasoline”
DarkSide, the cyber-criminal gang that took the major US fuel pipeline offline, acknowledged in a public statement its goal is to make money.
“Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society, ” DarkSide wrote on its website.
DarkSide reportedly took nearly 100 gigabytes of data out of Colonial’s network in just two hours on Thursday.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also confirmed that the cyberextortion attempt that forced the shutdown was carried out by a criminal gang known as DarkSide.
“The FBI confirms that the Darkside ransomware is responsible for the compromise of the Colonial Pipeline networks,”
“We continue to work with the company and our government partners on the investigation.”
U.S. Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid a ransom close to $5million (N2.043 billion) to the hackers on Friday. Two sources told Bloomberg that Colonial Pipeline paid in cryptocurrency that was not traceable just hours after the attack.
Colonial Pipeline Co., operator of the 5,500-mile conduit for gasoline, carries 2.5 million barrels a day, which is 45% of the East Coast’s supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel.
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