Colonial Pipeline Aims To Restore Gasoline Flow This Week

New York, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2021 ) :Colonial Pipeline said Monday it had begun a phased restart of a giant US gasoline pipeline and hopes to restore operations by the end of the week.

The pipeline company said operations were being "brought back online in a stepwise fashion" after Saturday's complete shutdown due to a cyberattack.

While "the situation remains fluid and continues to evolve," the company said it has a goal of "substantially restoring operational service by the end of the week." The affected pipeline ships gasoline and jet fuel from the Gulf Coast of Texas to the populous East Coast through 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) of conduit, serving 50 million consumers.

The company said it was the victim of a cybersecurity attack involving ransomware -- attacks that encrypt computer systems and seek to extract payments from operators.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified DarkSide as the group which produced the ransomware used in the attack.

DarkSide is an enigmatic group that surfaced last year with its corporate-style approach to inserting itself into a target's computers, locking them up and demanding payment in exchange for supplying the tools to digitally unfreeze them.

The shutdown raised fears gasoline prices could shoot up ahead of the Memorial Day holiday May 31, but oil and gasoline prices were little changed near 1710 GMT.