Oil pipelines were hacked and shut down in many places in the U.S. into a state of emergency

According to news on May 11, the US government announced on the 9th that 17 states and Washington, D.
C.
have entered a state of emergency
.
The reason is that the largest fuel pipeline in the United States was forced to shut down due to a cyber attack, which affected 45% of the gasoline and diesel fuel supply on the east coast of the United States.
It is still unclear when it will be restored
.


ABC Reporter: This pipeline system is between Houston and New Jersey and has a total length of 5,500 miles
.
After the cyber attack, 45% of the fuel supply on the east coast was suspended
.


Affected by the pipeline interruption, the Federal Automobile Transportation Safety Administration under the US Department of Transportation issued a regional emergency statement on the 9th, temporarily granting 17 states and Washington DC exemptions for the transportation of gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and other refined oil products in order to pass Road transportation reduces the negative impact of the shutdown of oil pipelines on the local area
.


On May 7, local time, Colonier, the nation's largest operator of refined oil pipelines, was attacked by hackers
.
On the 8th, the company issued a statement stating that after encountering a ransomware attack, they took the initiative to cut off the network connection of certain systems, which suspended all pipeline transportation
.
As of the 9th, the main pipeline is still interrupted, and the company has not yet given a date to resume
.


According to US media reports, the pipeline operated by Colonial Company was completed in 1963, starting from Houston, Texas, all the way north to New York Harbor, with a total length of about 8,900 kilometers and passing through 12 states.
It is the largest refined oil pipeline in the United States.

.
According to the company's official website, this pipeline has an average daily oil delivery volume of 380 million liters
.
The pipeline supplies 45% of gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel to the east coast of the United States, as well as fuel supplies for military bases
.


  Colonel issued a statement on the 9th that it has hired a third-party cyber security company to conduct an investigation and is cooperating with the US Department of Energy to study the resumption of operations
.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security also participated in the investigation
.


  Patrick Dehan, senior analyst at the "Gasoline Partners" website: It is very important to put this pipeline back into service
.
If the current situation lasts for more than four days, some problems may start to appear on the supply side
.


  Many US media have commented that cyber attacks on the US energy system are gradually becoming normal, exposing the vulnerability of US large-scale infrastructure facilities at the cyber security level, which is a "disturbing signal
.
"

  The intruder or professional cybercriminal group

  is investigating the cyberattack on important US energy pipelines
.
According to the Associated Press, a source familiar with the investigation said that the incident was related to a criminal group called the "dark side
.
"

  Colonel Pipeline previously stated that the company was blackmailed by the Internet
.
In this type of attack, hackers usually lock the network by encrypting data and then blackmail the ransom
.
A source said that the hackers stole data from the Colonial Pipeline Transportation Company
.
According to the New York Times, this type of cybercrime can be compared to "data kidnapping
.
"

  Colonel Pipeline Transportation Company did not specify whether to pay the ransom and who the attacker was
.


  The Associated Press reported that this is the most serious cyber attack to date on critical US infrastructure
.
Independent oil market analyst Goraf Sharma pointed out that if the pipeline problem cannot be resolved by the 11th, it will cause major problems for the oil supply in many states on the east coast
.


  In response to this cyber attack, some American media pointed the finger at Russia, saying that the "dark side" criminal gang may be related to Russia
.
In response, neither the US nor Russian officials responded
.


  US media: Aging infrastructure highlights vulnerabilities

  Affected by the shutdown of oil pipelines, regional oil prices have fluctuated
.
According to relevant data, the oil price in the area passed by the Colonial pipeline rose 4% on May 8 compared with the previous week
.
On the 9th, US gasoline futures also rose by more than 4%, setting a new high since May 2018
.
If the pipeline cannot be restarted quickly, the trend of international oil prices in the next few days may also be affected
.
Some analysts pointed out that this incident highlighted the fragility of some infrastructure in the United States
.


  The New York Times reported that this important oil pipeline has been serving East Coast states since the early 1960s and has now been forced to close, highlighting the fragility of the ageing infrastructure connected to the Internet
.


  Some netizens also said, “It’s time to upgrade our infrastructure
.
” “Our critical infrastructure and systems are vulnerable to cyber attacks.
I hope that the bill on infrastructure can solve this problem
.
”

  Some cyber experts said that today’s network Automated attack tools have gradually emerged, and criminals have used cryptocurrency to demand ransoms from victims, which has made it more difficult for law enforcement agencies to track offenders
.
Infrastructure companies should update their systems in time and strengthen network security, otherwise they will face huge losses
.


  Some important departments in the United States have been repeatedly attacked by hackers
.
In December last year, the networks of at least six federal agencies of the US government were attacked
.
US cybersecurity officials found through investigations that the attackers compromised a piece of software owned by the network management software manufacturer "Sunwind" and planted malicious code in the update patch
.
The software company has as many as 300,000 users worldwide, and many federal agencies such as the US State Department and the Department of Defense are among them
.
At that time, some American politicians and media also shifted the responsibility to Russia, and Russia refuted it
.


  Not only the United States, cyber attacks are a major problem faced by many countries around the world
.


  In 2010, the Natanz uranium enrichment base in Iran was attacked by the Stuxnet virus and at least one-fifth of the centrifuges were damaged
.
Since then, Iran has been attacked by the "Stuxnet" virus and its variants several times, and power systems, communication systems, and industrial systems have all been affected to varying degrees
.
Although the behind-the-scenes of the Stuxnet virus has not been finalized, many media and experts speculate that the virus was jointly developed by the US National Security Agency and Israeli intelligence agencies
.