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Joe Biden said the U.S. government has “strong reason” to believe that hackers behind a massive cyber attack that shut down the colonial pipeline were located in Russia, as it urged Americans not to panic over temporary fuel shortages.
“We do not believe that the Russian government was involved in this attack. But we have good reason to believe that the criminals who carried out the attack live in Russia. That’s where he came from, ”the U.S. president said in a speech Thursday afternoon at the White House.
“We have been in direct communication with Moscow on the imperative that the responsible countries take decisive action against these ransomware networks,” he added, noting that he hoped to discuss the issue with the Russian president. Vladimir Putin.
The 5,500-mile pipeline system has a capacity for 2.5 m of daily barrels of liquid fuels, such as diesel and aircraft fuel, which it transports from Gulf Coast refineries to major northern centers. East. The FBI has indicated that the closure was caused by a ransomware attack per DarkSide piracy group.
Cyber experts say Russia tacitly allows it ransomware glues to operate in the country and will not process them. In return, these criminals do not attack Russian companies and may be asked to share access to victims ’systems, according to experts.
Last month, the U.S. Treasury accused one of Russia’s intelligence services, the FSB, of “cultivating and co-opting” the notorious ransomware group Evil Corp., which has been sanctioned.
The Colonial Gas Pipeline, responsible for transporting nearly half of the fuel used on the east coast of the United States, the process of total reopening began on Wednesday evening, five days later, it was hit by a cyberattack that sparked a wave of panic purchases by motorists in the southeastern U.S.
Biden said the U.S. government hoped that “region by region would return to normal from this weekend and continue next week.” He urged Americans to avoid panic over buying gasoline and said he had asked state governors and local authorities to watch over businesses to bust prices.
“Don’t be scared, number one. I know seeing lines at petrol-free pumps or gas stations can be extremely stressful, but it’s a temporary situation, “Biden said.” Don’t get more gas than you need in the next few days. “
Panic shortages caused by the purchase of panic continued Thursday, with 70 percent of North Carolina stations dry and about half in Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina, according to GasBuddy, a provider of data.
However, the situation in some major urban centers was beginning to improve. The number of fuel-free stations in Atlanta fell from a high of 73% overnight to 68% on Thursday afternoon.
On Thursday morning, Colonial said it had made “substantial” progress in recovering its online operations and that all of its markets would begin receiving products in the afternoon.
Pump prices have continued to rise. National average gasoline prices rose to $ 3.03 on Thursday, according to the AAA, an automobile association. They crossed the $ 3 per gallon threshold on Wednesday for the first time since 2014.
Gasoline futures retreated on the news of Colonial’s reopening, as traders expected supplies to return to normal. Contracts for the June delivery fell 7 cents to $ 2.08, their lowest level since April in trading on Thursday afternoon.
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