RUNNING ON FUMES
Colonial Pipeline hack – North Carolina declares emergency as gas stations run dry after ‘act of war’ cyber attack
NORTH Carolina has declared a state of emergency as gas stations started to run dry yesterday following the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack.
The , branded an "act of war" by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, forced fuel stations along the East Coast to shut up shop due to fuel shortages.
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The 5,500 mile Colonial Pipeline, which transports 2.5million barrels of gas per day between and , was shut down on Friday evening after a ransomware attack was launched.
The pipeline transports roughly used on the East Coast.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency in a bid to minimize disruption.
Motor vehicle fuel regulations have been temporarily suspended to ensure sufficient fuel supplies throughout the state, reports.
Yesterday, motorists reported issues trying to find gas.
At least two gas stations in Tallahassee, , were out of gas by Monday evening, , and another in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, had about two dozen cars waiting to get some gas.
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An employee at the Elizabethtown Marathon gas station told the outlet that stations all over town were dealing with similar back-ups.
Motorists in Atlanta took to social media to complain about not being able to get gas after trying multiple stations.
Energy expert Patrick de Haan, who runs the site Gas Buddy Tracker, said that around five per cent of stations in Virginia were running empty.
The shutdown has affected the aviation sector as American Airlines has confirmed that they will add additional stops for two long-haul flights out of Charlotte, reports.
A direct flight to Honolulu will now stop at Dallas Fort-Worth and a Charlotte-London flight will stop in Boston for refueling.
Southwest Airlines is flying planes with additional fuel into Nashville airport while United Airlines say operations have not yet been impacted.
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A Russian crime group named "DarkSide" is allegedly behind the ransomware attack that led to the chaos.
targets large corporations for ransom by capturing the victim's confidential data and threatening to leak it if the ransom isn't paid.
It is not known what the Colonial Pipeline ransom is, if it is being negotiated, or if it has been paid.
Last night, Newt Gingrich branded the cyber hack an "act of war" and said Joe Biden should be authorized to "order the killings of anybody overseas" who was found to be behind the attack.
He told Sean Hannity: "On the national security part, we ought to pass a law immediately that makes this kind of hacking subject to a death penalty and the law should include a provision that the president, through a judicial process, should be able to order the killings of anybody overseas who is doing this."
The former Speaker of the House said it was "pitiful" that the US was falling victim to such attacks.
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He said: "We have no idea who they are. We have no idea where they are.
"If we did know who they were, we would have no mechanism to do anything about it.
"A great country can't allow people to savage it and have no consequences and wait for the next attack. And yet that literally is where we are."
Colonial remained shut down through the weekend, .
But the company hopes to "substantially" restore operational service by the end of the week.
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The national average retail gasoline price already rose to $2.967 a gallon on Monday, an increase of 2.4 percent from Friday, according to AAA.
The Pipeline attack is leading to new concerns over America's vulnerabilities to cybercriminals.
Christopher Krebs, the former Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told Congress last week the ransomware attack was a "digital dumpster fire".
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In response, the White House has initiated efforts to shore up the security of the nation's infrastructure and utility suppliers.
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Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said attacks like this are bound to recur.
"This is a play that will be run again, and we’re not adequately prepared," Sasse said. "If Congress is serious about an infrastructure package, at front and center should be the hardening of these critical sectors.”
Cyberattack prompts major pipeline operator to halt operations
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