US Cyberattack Pipeline: Operational Again This Week, Moscow Denies Involvement

The largest oil pipeline in the US, which has been paralyzed by a hacker attack since Thursday, should be fully operational again by the end of this week. That reports the company Colonial Pipeline.

Meanwhile, oil prices are starting to fall again, and Moscow has denied any involvement in the cyber attack.

Oil prices fell slightly in early trading on Tuesday. A barrel (159 litres) of the North Sea Brent cost $ 67.72, or 60 cents less than Monday. The price for a barrel of the American type West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 55 cents to $ 64.37.

The outage of the pipeline, which provides half of the US East Coast oil supply, had temporarily raised oil prices in futures markets. Long-term outages could lead to shortages of petrol and diesel.

The Russian embassy in the United States, meanwhile, denies any involvement of Moscow in the cyber attack. US President Joe Biden blamed a criminal group called Darkside, allegedly based in Russia.

Biden did not directly accuse the Kremlin of being at the root of the attack but did indicate that the country “has a certain responsibility” because the criminals are based there. Russia has been accused of several significant waves of cyberattacks in recent years, especially in the US and Europe.