Hacking group behind the cyberattack on a key US fuel pipeline is said to be disbanding
,
- The ransomware group behind the Colonial Pipeline hack is said to be disbanding.
- The news comes shortly after President Biden said the US was looking at ways to disrupt the group.
- The attack on the key pipeline caused gas prices to soar to over $3 dollars.
DarkSide, the ransomware group that attacked Colonial Pipeline last week, sending gasoline prices soaring, is reportedly shutting down, per a new report by the Wall Street Journal.
Citing sources who work in security, the Journal says DarkSide told associates it no longer has access to its servers and pointed to disruptions caused by a law-enforcement agency and pressure from the United States. The website associated with DarkSide was no longer active as of Thursday.
The group said it lost access shortly after President Joe Biden said: "We have been in direct communications with Moscow about the imperative for responsible countries to take decisive action against these ransomware networks. We're also going to pursue a measure to disrupt their ability to operate."
Biden said there wasn't any evidence the Russian government was behind the attack, but those involved "are living in Russia." The Journal, alongside the website Oil Price says it's possible the US successfully disrupted the hackers.
The announcement of its shutdown could also be a cover, however, in which the hackers shut themselves down and take all the money. In fact, the Journal reports, it's not uncommon for ransomware groups to disband only to reappear later under different names.
DarkSide made headlines this week for attacking Colonial Pipeline, which operates the country's largest refined products pipeline and supplies 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast. After news of the attack spread, people began panic-buying gasoline, which sent gas prices soaring to over $3 for the first time since 2014.
Per those familiar with the matter, Colonial Pipeline is said to have paid nearly $5 million to the hackers in order to free the pipeline. The pipeline shut down on May 7 and was restarted on Wednesday. As of Saturday morning, operations have returned to normal, the company announced via Twitter.
Ransomware made over $400 million last year and has been emerging as a profitable criminal business, according to blockchain research firm Chainalysis Inc. Security researchers told the Journal Darkside had become prominent within the world of ransomware. Within its first seven months of operation, the firm made at least $60 million - $46 million of which came in the first quarter of this year, Chainalysis Inc. found.