Colonial Pipeline Hit by New Network Problem; DarkSide Hacking Group Shuts Down

Colonial Pipeline faced another network problem on Tuesday as its communication system went down. The network problem happened after the fuel company experienced a ransomware attack from hackers identified as DarkSide.

New York Post reported that the pipeline had spent only nearly a week recovering from the attack that prompted panic buying and gas shortage in the east coast of the United States.

What Was the Network Problem That Colonial Pipeline Experienced on Tuesday?

The Washington Post reported that the latest problem involved an interruption in shippers' communication system to request service and plan for shipments.

In a statement, the Colonial Pipeline confirmed the network problem but said that the issues were not related to the ransomware attack.

"Our internal server that runs our nomination system experienced intermittent disruptions this morning," the company noted.

The Colonial Pipeline further noted that the disturbances were caused by some of its "hardening efforts that are ongoing" and part of the firm's restoration process.

GasBuddy Analyst Patrick Deehan told New York Post that the issue is not major compared to when the pipeline was down. However, Deehan noted that the network problem could be more troublesome if the issue was not resolved quickly.

The shipping nomination of the company is controlled by a third party privately held transport 4 (T4), which oversees similar logistics to other pipeline companies, Reuters reported.

Even though Colonial Pipeline is a privately held company owned by Royal Dutch Shell, Koch Industries, and several investment firms, a shell spokesman on Tuesday said that he has no details to add to what the company already said in its statement.

"We are working diligently to bring our nomination system back online and will continue to keep our shippers updated," the Colonial Pipeline said in its statement. The company added that they would continue to deliver refined products that their shippers nominated.

DarkSide Hacking Group Behind the Colonial Pipeline Attack Shuts Down

Before the Colonial Pipeline's network problem, the company is in the process of recovery from the ransomware attack in which hackers DarkSide were responsible.

CNBC reported that the hackers behind the Colonial ransomware attack shut down last week after losing access to its servers and collecting at least $90 million in bitcoin.

On Friday, London-based blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said they identified the bitcoin wallet used by hackers to collect ransom payments from their victims.

"To our knowledge, this analysis includes all payments made to DarkSide, however further transactions may yet to be uncovered," said Tom Robinson, Elliptic's co-founder and chief scientist. Robinson noted that the figures they discovered should be considered "a lower bound."

DarkSide is reported to market ransomware tools and sell them to other criminals who carry out the attacks. Over the past nine months, Elliptic confirmed on Tuesday that about $90 million in bitcoin were collected from 47 victims, underscoring that the payment from the organization was about $1.9 million on average.

Colonial Pipeline was among the victims of DarkSide through a ransomware attack. CNBC noted that Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid at least $5 million ransom to the group.

WATCH: Colonial Shippers Say Pipeline Communications System Is Down - From Bloomberg Quicktake: Now