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The White House has opened a debate on the merits of companies making rescue payments to cyber attackers after a group of hackers shut down a U.S. oil pipeline over the weekend, highlighting the seriousness of the threat to to critical infrastructures.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has long opposed such payments, as it would encourage more ransomware attacks, in which hackers take control of the equipment or data of a target until their demands are met. financial.
Anne Neuberger, the U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, said Monday that the Biden administration is “definitely studying” its “approach to rescue actors and rescuers in general.”
“The victims of cyberattacks often face a very difficult situation and have to balance themselves. . . the cost-benefit when they have no choice but to pay a ransom, ”he said, noting that companies with encrypted data without backups often had difficulty retrieving information after a ransomware attack.
“That’s why, given the rise in ransomware and frankly given the worrying trend we often see targeting companies that have insurance and can be wealthy targets, we need to look closely at this area,” Neuberger said.
Ransomware hackers claimed on Friday one of their biggest targets to date, closing the 5,500 miles Colonial conduct network that transports gasoline, diesel and fuel for airplanes from refineries along the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic coast. The system has the capacity to supply almost 15% of total US liquid fuel demand.
The FBI identified him Monday Dark side, an organization believed to be run from Russia by an experienced team of online criminals, as “responsible” for compromising colonial pipeline networks.
“We currently evaluate DarkSide as a criminal actor, but of course our intelligence community is looking for any link to any actor in the nation state,” Neuberger told reporters.
The Colonial Pipeline Company, backed by a group of investors, including private equity group KKR and the Koch Industries conglomerate, said it would restore most of the service over the weekend while working with shippers to find other ways to transport fuels.
The disruption left Gulf Coast refineries with no way out, forcing them to reduce production to 500,000 barrels a day, according to an oil industry expert. Some refiners, including New York-listed Valero, were looking to park fuels on ships, S&P Global Platts said. Valero did not respond to any requests for comment.
Colonial pipe company turned down the federal government’s offer to help restore its systems, Neuberger said. The White House had not offered any “additional advice” to Colonial on whether a ransom should be paid, he added.
James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the pipes were marked as a potential cybersecurity risk a decade ago, adding that White House comments on rescue payments they were an “admission of reality.”
U.S. gasoline markets did not respond much to the fall, and futures for the June delivery rose just 0.3% to settle at $ 2.13 a gallon on Monday.
However, if the pipeline did not return to service quickly, more severe price movements could follow, analysts said.
“If consumers panic, you may see prices really boosted over the next few days,” said Alan Gelder, vice president of refining and chemicals at Wood Mackenzie. “I suspect it will depend a lot on the evening news from the United States.”
There has been a proliferation of ransomware attacks in recent years as it has become an increasingly lucrative criminal enterprise, with a bailout claim on victims of about $ 100,000 on average, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Justice of the United States. Many criminals operate outside jurisdictions such as Russia, where they are unlikely to be prosecuted by the authorities.
Insurers have also been accused of encouraging companies to pay, offering refunds for extortion payments. On Monday, the global insurance group AXA dit it would stop writing cyber policies that reimburse payments to its French customers, following criticism.
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