Apparently, the Biden administration’s policy is to allow U.S. companies that provide vital services to be extorted by foreign hackers.
An Eastern European group of hackers, known as DarkSide, shut down Colonial Pipeline’s computer network late last week, causing gas prices to spike and gas stations in several states to run dry, and the White House’s response was one of casual indifference.
“Typically, that’s a private sector decision,” Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, told reporters after being asked whether Colonial Pipeline would need to pay a ransom to get control of its system back.
“We recognize that victims of cyberattacks often face a very difficult situation, and they have to just balance often the cost-benefit when they have no choice with regards to paying a ransom,” she added. “Colonial is a private company, and we’ll defer information regarding their decision on paying a ransom to them.”
Well, as it turns out, Colonial Pipeline did end up paying a ransom of nearly $5 million, according to Bloomberg, and the Biden administration knew about it.
We don’t know for sure what conversations took place between administration officials and Colonial Pipeline, but the White House’s public effort to distance itself from the cyberattack is an indication that Biden’s administration might very well have left the pipeline to fend for itself. What kind of message does that send to DarkSide? Or to any one of our other enemies who might look at how easily our energy infrastructure folded and how little the federal government seemed to care?
And in what world does the federal government look at a major pipeline that supplies more than a dozen states with fuel for driving and flying and say, “Well, that’s just the private sector.” Sure, Colonial Pipeline is a private company, but the services it provides are absolutely vital to the public — four states had to declare states of emergencies because of the pipeline shutdown — which makes them vital to the federal government as well.
This has been a massive messaging failure for the Biden administration. We used to have a straightforward approach to attacks of this nature: Don’t negotiate with terrorists, and do not let them walk away unscathed. Now, however, our approach seems to be one of nonchalance. And that’s a problem not just for Colonial Pipeline, but for the whole of our national security.
