President Biden urged Americans on Thursday to not panic over possible fuel shortages caused by the hacking on Colonial Pipeline. During a nationally televised update from the White House, Biden predicted that fuel supplies nationwide would be back to normal by the weekend, as Colonial has now restarted the pipeline.
“Don’t panic,” he said. “I know seeing lines at the pumps and gas stations with no gas can be extremely stressful. But this is a temporary situation. Do not get more gas than you need in the next few days.” The President was likely referring to scenes from recent days of long lines at gas stations across several Southern states amid the nonstop news coverage of the pipeline shutdown.
The President also revealed that the cybercriminal group behind the attack, DarkSide, is based in Russia. Biden added that he does not believe the Russian government is involved in the ransomware attack on the pipeline.
Biden says the White House doesn't believe the Russian government was involved in the Colonial Pipeline attack, but the attackers are based in Russia pic.twitter.com/YGhYCD9Dlq
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 13, 2021
The President also took a moment to send a direct warning to any unscrupulous business owners about price gouging.
“I want to say something to the gas stations. Do not, I repeat, do not try to take advantage of consumers during this time.”
One other notable moment came at the end of Biden’s update when Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs asked a question. There are conflicting reports out right now over whether Colonial paid a ransom to the cybercriminals. Bloomberg is reporting the company paid nearly $5 million to the hackers. When Jacobs asked the president if he had been briefed on any ransom negotiations, he gave an unusually brief response.
“I have no comment on that,” Biden said when I asked if he was briefed on Colonial Pipeline’s decision to pay the ransom. pic.twitter.com/cEMDWZD8Mp
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 13, 2021
At a press briefing a short time after the president’s remarks, press secretary Jen Psaki said any decision on paying a ransom in such a case is left up to private corporations.
On companies paying ransom in cyber attacks, @PressSec Jen Psaki: "It's the recommendation of the FBI to not pay ransom in these cases …because it can incentivize similar attacks." But "private sector entities or companies are going to make their own decisions." pic.twitter.com/wE1GhxlQrQ
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 13, 2021