1397 replies to this topic

[tanker]

Could've had energy east but they didn't want it. Glad to see them pay for their stupidity now.

[Rob Randall]

Colonial Pipeline paid 75 Bitcoin, or roughly $5 million, to hackers

 

The company paid the hefty ransom in untraceable cryptocurrency within hours after the attack, underscoring the immense pressure faced by the Georgia-based operator to get gasoline and jet fuel flowing again to major cities along the Eastern Seaboard, those people said. A third person familar with the situation said U.S. government officials are aware that Colonial made the payment.

Once they received the payment, the hackers provided the operator with a decrypting tool to restore its disabled computer network. The tool was so slow that the company continued using its own backups to help restore the system, one of the people familiar with the company’s efforts said.

 

 

https://www.bnnbloom...ansom-1.1603285

 

Truly frightening.

[LJ]

^Agreed. Private companies are going to have to significantly upgrade their cyber security.

[Sparky]

Rumour has it that a local paint supply company paid $1M after being hacked by ransom ware.

I refuse to manage my own server. No place for a schmuck like me to pretend he knows what he’s doing.

[LJ]

Is there no way to stop these hacks or does it just cost too much?

[lanforod]

Is there no way to stop these hacks or does it just cost too much?

 

It's impossible to 100% stop it or prevent it; even an air-gapped network has its weak spots. There are many, many things that can be done, but on the flip side, there are many many ways to get hacked, and the target is ever moving, the attacks are constantly more sophisticated. There is a lot of money to be paid, and a lot of companies just pay the ransom, in spite of the issues of no assurance of decryption, no assurance data was not exfiltrated for sale (likely was), etc. 
The best options for protection are expensive, and typically minimum license numbers make it difficult for small businesses to even use these best options, let alone have the expertise to properly deploy and manage. Sparky is right, the solution is SaaS, IaaS, and particularly SECaaS.

[Matt R.]

…the solution is SaaS, IaaS, and particularly SECaaS.

SaaS, IaaS, or SECaaS, nobody rides for free.

Matt.

[todd]

Things were better before computers.

[Rob Randall]

FBI has seized back pipeline ransom funds from DarkSide's bitcoin wallet.

[Rob Randall]

It's impossible to 100% stop it or prevent it; even an air-gapped network has its weak spots. 

 

Reminds me of the computer worm that wrecked Iran's nuclear lab computers. Supposedly spread from a USB thumb drive dropped on the ground outside the nuclear facility by a secret agent and brought inside by a curious worker.

[sebberry]

Reminds me of the computer worm that wrecked Iran's nuclear lab computers. Supposedly spread from a USB thumb drive dropped on the ground outside the nuclear facility by a secret agent and brought inside by a curious worker.

 

I'm surprised he's not still trying to figure out which way up the USB stick goes  

[Rex Waverly]

I'm surprised he's not still trying to figure out which way up the USB stick goes

 

Always the Rule of Three with those things. Try it, then flip, try again, then flip, then it works.  Every damn time.

[Victoria Watcher]

Fire boils to surface of Gulf of Mexico after underwater gas pipeline rupture

 

 

interesting video.

 

https://globalnews.c...oil-fire-ocean/

[Victoria Watcher]

Three natural gas-producing sites in southern Alberta could host "up to one million" bitcoin mining machines relocated from China under a deal proposed by Nevada-based Black Rock Petroleum Company amid Beijing's ongoing crackdown on cryptocurrency production and trading.

 

Bitcoin is a digital currency that can be sent between users without the need for a central bank, leveraging blockchain technology to maintain a decentralized ledger of transactions. Bitcoin's value has spiked in the last year. 

 

The process of unlocking new bitcoin to add to the existing supply is calling "mining." This requires the use of computers with powerful processors in an energy intensive process. 

 

No timeline for the deal was immediately announced, though the contract term for using the natural gas sites is listed as 24 months, according to a press release from Black Rock Petroleum Company.

_______________________________

 

"In China, they were using hydroelectric power for at least part of the year, and then the rest of the year they would be using Chinese coal, instead," he said of the energy source powering the computers used in the mining process.

 

"But if they're coming to Alberta and start running on natural gas all year round, it's not improving the situation of this network, which is already responsible for more CO2 emissions than we are saving with all electric vehicles around the world combined."

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...mpany-1.6106978

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 10 August 2021 - 12:31 AM.

[Mike K.]

Tesla will soon take Bitcoin.

[Mike K.]

The Biden government, after killing its domestic oil industry’s future and cutting off Alberta oil, is pleading with OPEC (aka Russia) to open the taps and raise output as gas prices in the US rise to economy stifling levels.

Canada too is dependant on foreign oil and while politically handcuffed regarding its oil imports into Montreal, is quietly hoping Biden is successful.

[Victoria Watcher]

A phenomenon recently unfolded that represents a rarity in this era of vocal opposition to Canadian fossil-fuel projects.

 

A major pipeline project exporting oil from Canada was just completed and it began operating with relatively little national attention.

 

The Line 3 project attracted much less scrutiny than Keystone XL from American protesters, media and politicians.

 

It didn't even appear to be the top pipeline story in Canada last week — that distinction likely belonged to Line 5, which is escalating as a political irritant between Canada and the U.S.

 

Yet Line 3 was up and running on Oct. 1, adding 370,000 barrels per day in new exports from Alberta to Wisconsin, which is more than half the output the scrapped Keystone XL project was supposed to achieve.

 

 

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...nning-1.6205739

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 11 October 2021 - 11:42 AM.

[Mike K.]

Biden is asking oil producers to lower the cost of energy. Producers are telling him sorry, you created this mess, and no, we can’t just drill new wells from one minute to the next.

It sounds like we’re going to see $2/litre this winter, here in Victoria. Down in California they’re paying up to $6/gallon, or over $2/litre CAD already.

And remember, this administration, that curbed oil production and expansion of oil production as its first order of business, also believes producers will not pass on inflationary costs to consumers.