Feds Issue Emergency Declaration for 17 States, D.C. After Hackers Attack Largest U.S. Pipeline

The cyberattack on the largest pipeline in the United States resulted in the federal government issuing a state of emergency for 17 states and the District of Columbia. 

The emergency declaration covers Alabama, Arkansas, D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, Axios reported.

As Breitbart News reported, the criminal hacking group led to the shutdown of the largest pipeline in the United States:

The Colonial pipeline, which snakes 5,500 miles along the eastern U.S., transports 2.5 million barrels of gasoline a day, and provides 45 percent of the region’s fuel consumption, was shut down on Friday in response to the hacking.

Vice reported on the hackers’ odd statement posted on the “dark web”: “We are apolitical, we do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for other our motives,” the statement from the DarkSide ransomware group reads.

The statement did not explicitly point to the Colonial Pipeline incident, but it was titled “About the latest news.” Various outlets have reported that U.S. officials and private industry say DarkSide is behind the ransomware event. Dmitry Smilyanets, a cyber threat intelligence expert from cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, tweeted a screenshot of the statement on Monday. Motherboard verified the statement is available on DarkSide’s dark web site.

“Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society,” the statement said. The statement also indicated that the group may be making changes to how it operates and chooses targets. “From today we introduce moderation and check each company that our partners want to encrypt to avoid social consequences in the future.”

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