A cyberattack has forced the shutdown of a major gas pipeline in the U.S. that supplies 45 percent of all fuel consumed on the East Coast.
The cyberattack against Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Houston to Linden, New Jersey, began 7 p.m. on Friday night, according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency report reviewed by ABC News.
Colonial Pipeline said in an update Saturday the attack involved ransomware.
Colonial’s network supplies fuel from U.S. refiners on the Gulf Coast to the eastern and southern U.S. and transports 2.5 million barrels a day of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other products through 5,500 miles of pipelines, the company said.
It’s not clear how long the pipelines would be shut down. The shutdown will affect other pipeline operations such as the Buckeye and Twin Oaks Pipeline, which runs through the New York City-Long Island area and Maine, FEMA said.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation, according to a White House spokesperson.
Preliminary results of the investigation at this point suggest the attack was the handiwork of the so-called DarkSide criminal organization that operates in Eastern Europe, according to two officials briefed on the probe. Federal officials are continuing to firm up their findings and are actively trying to determine whether a foreign nation could either be behind the attack or working together with the criminals.
Source-ABC
