Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
The United States' fuel supply has been in chaos since hacker group DarkSide hacked into Colonial Pipeline. A week after the attack, the group now appears to be no more. On Friday, reports have come in that DarkSide has disbanded, citing several factors, including pressure and disruption from law enforcement.
According to the Wall Street Journal, members of the DarkSide group have told associates that they have lost access to its infrastructure and cannot continue to run. Security firms FireEye and Intel 471 add that DarkSide has felt intense pressure from law enforcement agencies, though not necessarily ones from the United States. The DarkSide group's dark web home has been down since Thursday. A CNBC report (embedded above) has added that the DarkSide group has experienced retaliation from various groups in response to its recent operations.
Colonial Pipeline was attacked last weekend, with DarkSide claiming responsibility for the ransomware hack. The hacker group later issued an apology for the attack, claiming it is an apolitical organization that does not engage in geopolitics. However, the damage caused by the attack has proven extensive to the point that the east coast of the United States has experienced heavy fuel shortages, largely caused by consumer panic. The Biden administration has been investigating the atttack and has been in touch with various foreign powers, which has included a warning to Russia about tolerating this level of hacking within its borders.
It is unknown whether DarkSide will remain disbanded or pop up in the future under a different name. We will continue to follow this story and return with any updates.