Pipeline Reopens Completely As Biden Reaffirms Suspicions Of Russian Hackers' Involvement

The owner of the largest fuel pipeline in the United States says it has restarted its entire pipeline system and begun delivering fuel again after a cyberattack that Washington said originated in Russia forced it offline and triggered worries about fuel supplies.

It will take several days for fuel deliveries to return to normal along the 8,850-kilometer pipeline, and some markets may experience intermittent service interruptions, Colonial Pipeline said on May 13 in a press release.

"Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal," it said.

Colonial announced on May 8 that it was the victim of a ransomware attack and halted operations on the pipeline in the most disruptive cyberattack ever on U.S. energy infrastructure.

President Joe Biden reassured U.S. motorists on May 13 that fuel supplies should start returning to normal this weekend.

The FBI identified the group behind the attack as a criminal gang known as DarkSide, a hacker network that cybersecurity experts say is believed to be based in Russia or Eastern Europe.

Biden said that U.S. officials do not believe the Russian government was involved in the hack but added, “We do have strong reason to believe that the criminals who did the attack are living in Russia. That’s where it came from.”

Washington has been in direct communication with Moscow about the need to take action against ransom networks, Biden said.

Colonial has not disclosed how much money the hackers were seeking and it was unclear if Colonial agreed to pay any ransom to free up its data and systems.

The company has not determined how the breach occurred, a spokeswoman said on May 13.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP