President Joe Biden said a ransomware hack that shuttered the largest American petroleum pipeline between Texas and New York is not attributable to Russian President Vladimir Putin, nor his government, but he intends to call on his counterpart to crack down on cybercriminals.
“We don’t believe the Russian government was involved in this attack, but we have strong reason to believe the criminals who did the attack are living in Russia,” Biden said while speaking from the White House’s Roosevelt Room, adding that he intends to raise the issue with Putin when they meet.
The White House has been in “direct communication” with Moscow, calling on Putin’s government to take action against the attackers.
“We are working to try to get to a place where we have sort of an international standard that governments knowing that criminal activity is happening from their territory, that we all move on those criminal enterprises,” he continued.
White House officials have said they are working with the Kremlin on a date and host city for the summit, but final plans have not been set.
“I am confident that I read the report of the FBI accurately. They say he was not, the government was not [responsible],” Biden said.
Asked whether he would rule out a retaliatory cyberattack, Biden said, “No.”
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Biden’s remarks come seven days into a crisis that has seen gas prices spike to a seven-year high and fuel shortages across the East Coast. On Wednesday, he signed a sweeping order aimed at overhauling federal software systems and boosting security standards. The administration has grappled with two recent cyberattacks targeting government software since taking office: the SolarWinds breach by a Russian intelligence unit and an attack by Chinese hackers on some Microsoft email software.
Colonial Pipeline’s system was taken offline Friday, reportedly after a ransomware hack attacked its billing system. The White House has not said whether the company paid a ransom.
“I have no comment on that,” Biden replied to a question about whether he had been briefed on reports that Colonial Pipeline paid a ransom.
The president also called on lawmakers to pass his sweeping infrastructure proposal, which he said could bolster energy supply.
“This event is providing an urgent reminder of why we need to harden our infrastructure and make it more resilient against all threats, natural and man-made,” he said.
Officials have scrambled to take control of the incident, and Biden warned that people would not immediately feel the results of a major oil pipeline’s return online.
Just days earlier, officials said they were not aware of any shortages.
“At this point in time, I would just reiterate: We don’t see a supply issue,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told the Washington Examiner on Monday.
A day later, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm urged calm as drivers descended on gas stations up and down the East Coast, prompting a crunch.
“It’s not that we have a gasoline shortage. It’s that we have this supply crunch and that things will be back to normal soon and that we’re asking people not to hoard,” Granholm said.
By Wednesday, Republicans began pressing for action.
“We really do need the federal government to step up,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, a Republican, tweeted, “America is facing a gas shortage. We need to get the Colonial pipeline back to work, and the Keystone pipeline back to construction.”
Six days into the crunch and hours after Colonial Pipeline announced that it restarted some operations, the White House lifted a century-old shipping rule that analysts said could help ease the shortage by moving supply from the Gulf Coast to the Eastern Seaboard.
The 101-year-old Jones Act mandates that goods be carried between U.S. ports on ships constructed and registered in the U.S. and owned and operated by Americans or permanent residents.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement late Wednesday that he had approved a “temporary and targeted waiver” for one company seeking to transport fuel from the Gulf Coast to the Eastern Seaboard. The pipeline supplies 45% of the fuel to the region.
A White House official said the waiver applied to one tanker but could apply to other requests under review, Bloomberg reported.
By Thursday, gas prices rose to a seven-year high as drivers across the Southeast waited in line for hours to fill their tanks. Gas stations across the region have run out of fuel. In North Carolina, this total reached nearly two-thirds, according to reports.
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Officials have asked people to be patient.
“This is not like flipping a switch,” Granholm told MSNBC on Thursday. “It’s a 5,500-mile pipeline.”
