BREAKING: State of Emergency Declared in 17 States and D.C. After Pipeline Cyberattack

Jennifer Van Laar reporting for RedState

As we reported earlier, “the most significant and successful attack on energy infrastructure we know of in the United States” occurred Friday when a ransomware cyberattack was launched on the Colonial Pipeline. The pipeline stretches from New Jersey to Texas and provides 45% of the gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel used on the East Coast. While the attack was on the pipeline’s business systems, the pipeline itself was shut down as a precaution while a third party investigates the attack.

Bloomberg reported that the hackers are believed to be part of DarkSide and grabbed 100 gigabytes of data out of Colonial’s network on Thursday before they shut down the pipeline. DarkSide is thought to be a ransomware group that tries to hold companies up and is believed to be based in Russia.

Experts believe that gas prices will spike if the pipeline, which has already been shut down for three days, doesn’t reopen soon. Sunday night The Hill reported that the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a regional emergency declaration granting drivers and carriers “relief from “Parts 390 through 399 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations except as restricted herein.”

The regional emergency declaration…lifts restrictions for motor carriers and drivers who are providing assistance to areas that are suffering shortages of “gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products” in the wake of the Colonial pipeline shutdown.

The regional emergency declaration affects the following territories: Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The declaration is in effect until the emergency is over or until June 8, 2021. While the DarkSide criminal enterprise is suspected to be responsible, the FBI simply says that they were notified of a network disruption at the pipeline and they’re working closely with the company “and our government partners.”

While the DarkSide criminal enterprise is linked to the Russian government, the White House has been silent. Perhaps Vladimir Putin is fighting back against Joe Biden’s alleged tough talk over “election meddling” in a covert way?