The malware-caused shutdown of the biggest gasoline pipeline on the East Coast of the United States might be drawing to an end. According to Bloomberg News, Colonial Pipeline has informed federal officials that it will be able to determine whether or not it’s safe to restart operations by the end of Wednesday. The shutdown, which has been blamed on a secretive hacking group linked to Russia, has caused fuel shortages throughout the Southeast, which officials say has been compounded by fuel hoarders exhausting supplies. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has warned that it could take days for Colonial to “ramp up operations” after it restarts the pipeline, but has told the public that there’s no need to begin hoarding gas. Meanwhile, CNN reports that the Biden administration has privately admonished Colonial for its failure to of prepare for an attack of this magnitude, and has urged it to step up its security protocols to prevent it from happening again.
