Pipeline hack fuels gas crunch; US suspects Russian origins

CLEMMONS, N.C. - Motorists found gas pumps shrouded in plastic bags at tapped-out service stations across more than a dozen U.S. states Thursday while the operator of the nation's largest gasoline pipeline reported making "substantial progress" in resolving the computer hack-induced shutdown responsible for the empty tanks.

About 70% of North Carolina's gas stations were still without fuel amid panic-buying and about half the stations in Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia were tapped out, GasBuddy.com reported. Washington, D.C., was among the hardest-hit locations, with 73% of stations out, the site's tracking service showed.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that U.S. officials do not believe the Russian government was involved in the hack of the Colonial Pipeline, which stretches from Texas to New Jersey. But he added, "We do have strong reason to believe that the criminals who did the attack are living in Russia. That's where it came from."

https://www.startribune.com/pipeline-hack-fuels-gas-crunch-us-suspects-russian-origins/600056654/