Washington (AFP)
The hacking that has caused the paralysis of one of the largest operators of American pipelines since Friday was carried out by the criminal group Darkside, said Monday the US federal police.
"The FBI confirms that the Darkside ransomware is responsible for endangering the networks of Colonial Pipeline," a company transporting gasoline and diesel over 8,800 km of pipelines across the United States, the statement said.
Ransomware, or "ransomware", is a program that exploits security holes to encrypt computer systems and demand ransom to unblock them.
Colonial Pipeline, which says it discovered on May 7 that it was "the victim of a cybersecurity attack," "took some of (its) systems offline as a precaution to counter the danger, which temporarily halted all operations ".
"For now, our main objective is the safe and efficient restoration of our services to return to normal operation," the company said on Saturday.
Colonial Pipeline operates a network of pipelines stretching from refineries on the Gulf Coast around Houston, Texas, to the northeastern United States in the New York area.
It is the largest refined product pipeline operator in the country, transporting nearly 45% of the fuels consumed on the US East Coast.
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