Colonial oil pipeline is back in service after ransomware attack

The Colonial Pipeline, one of the most important US oil pipelines, is being reopened after the company behind the pipeline was hit by ransomware last week. It will take a few more days before the pipeline is fully operational.

“Some of the markets that the Colonial Pipeline will serve will still experience supply problems in the coming days. We will try to deliver as much fuel as possible in a safe manner until the markets recover,” said a statement from the Colonial Pipeline Company, the company that operates the pipeline.

The company behind the major US oil pipeline was hit Friday by a cyberattack in which ransomware was installed by hackers on the company’s financial systems. In response to the attack, it was decided to shut down parts of the IT system, which also temporarily halted the activities of the pipeline. Parts of the ICT systems were restarted from Monday. Yesterday afternoon around 5 pm, the company released a statement that the deliveries of fuels will be able to resume systematically. According to US media, the company has not paid a ransom to regain access to its systems and data.

According to the American intelligence service FBI, the Russian hacker collective DarkSide is behind the attack. US President Joe Biden said in a statement that there is currently no evidence that the Russian government is involved in the attack.

The Colonial Pipeline runs from Texas via the east coast of the United States to the state of New Jersey and measures approximately 8850 kilometers. The oil pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels of oil every day and is an important part of the energy infrastructure in the United States. The pipeline supplies nearly half of the US East Coast with fossil fuels for commercial, professional and military purposes.