Pentagon says, so far, military unaffected by Colonial Pipeline shutdown

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'SUFFICIENT INVENTORY ON HAND': As Colonial Pipeline works to recover from a ransomware attack that forced the shutdown of its Texas to New Jersey pipeline that supplies 45% of fuel to the East Coast, the Pentagon says at least in the short term it is unaffected.

"The Defense Logistics Agency is monitoring inventory levels, and we're awaiting updates from Colonial Pipeline," said spokesman John Kirby at yesterday's Pentagon briefing. "There's sufficient inventory on hand for downstream customers. So there is no immediate mission impact."

The company says it hopes to restore service this week. Experts say if it takes any longer, it could cause a spike in gasoline and fuel prices.

COLONIAL PIPELINE AIMS FOR RESTART THIS WEEK AFTER CYBERATTACK

DARKSIDE CONNECTION CONFIRMED: The FBI issued a two-sentence statement yesterday confirming that DarkSide, a criminal ransomware group based in Eastern Europe, was "responsible for the compromise of the Colonial Pipeline networks."

At the White House, President Joe Biden said there is no evidence yet that this was a state-sponsored cyberattack. "And so far, there is no evidence, based on - from our intelligence people, that Russia is involved. Although there is evidence that the actors, ransomware, is in Russia."

"I'm going to be meeting with President [Vladimir] Putin," Biden said. "They have some responsibility to deal with this."

"We are monitoring supply shortages in parts of the Southeast and are evaluating every action the administration can take to mitigate the impact as much as possible," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki in a statement issued late last night. "The President has directed agencies across the Federal Government to bring their resources to bear to help alleviate shortages where they may occur."

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT DARKSIDE, THE HACKING GROUP RESPONSIBLE FOR COLONIAL PIPELINE CYBERATTACK

'WE'RE NOT WAKING UP': On CNN last night, Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, and co-chairman of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, said anyone who was paying attention would have seen this attack coming a mile away.

"We're looking at the longest wind-up for a punch in the history of the world," King told CNN's Chris Cuomo. "We keep getting these wake-up calls, and we're not waking up."

The Russian SolarWinds attack and the Chinese use of Microsoft email servers to infiltrate thousands of computers were both opening salvos in a new age of cyberwarfare, says King.

"This is a new kind of conflict, where it's not battleships, and airplanes and armies. It's the private sector infrastructure that's at risk. Eighty-five percent of the target space in cyberspace is in the private sector. And that's what we saw this weekend," he said.

'WE CAN STOP BEING A CHEAP DATE': King says cyberattacks are very hard to stop, so they must be deterred.

"The sad truth is cyber is cheap. Putin can hire 8,000 hackers for the price of one jet airplane. So, what they're doing, they're going to keep doing now," he said. "We can quit being a cheap date. We can start responding. We can start imposing costs. And actually, the Biden administration, about a month ago, did impose some serious sanctions on Russia for the SolarWinds attack last year. But we've got to up that game."

"This is supposedly a criminal gang. But I'm not sure how you distinguish that from whether or not they have some connection to the Russian government," King added. "Actually, it was sort of humorous today. Apparently, this criminal gang has a website. And they went on their own website to say, 'We didn't have anything to do with the government. We just want the money.'" So, it was pure ransomware."

COLONIAL PIPELINE ATTACK: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

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HAPPENING TODAY: This morning, the Senate Armed Services Committee takes up the nominations of Michael McCord to be Pentagon comptroller and Ronald Moultrie to be undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security at 9:30 a.m.

Then at 4 p.m., Chairman Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, discusses "Defense Priorities" at an event sponsored by the Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.

SOMEBODY IS GOING TO GET HURT: The Pentagon yesterday had a warning for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, which in its latest provocation, swarmed more than a dozen armed small speedboats around a group of seven U.S. warships - including a U.S. attack submarine, as they were transiting in the Strait of Hormuz.

Small boats, especially if they are laden with explosives, can pose a major threat to warships. As some of the Iranian fast-attack boats came within 150 yards of the U.S. ships, the Coast Guard patrol boat Maui was forced to fire off two separate bursts of fire from its .50-caliber machine gun to ward off the Iranian boats. You can see video of the encounter here.

"It's unsafe. It's unprofessional, and this kind of activity is the kind of activity that could lead to somebody getting hurt and could lead to a real miscalculation there in the region, and that doesn't serve anybody's interests," said spokesman John Kirby.

"Our Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows while promoting the rules-based international order throughout the region," said a statement from the U.S. 5th Fleet. "The U.S. is not an aggressor; our naval forces remain postured in a non-provocative manner that exemplifies professionalism."

NAVY HARASSED BY 13 IRANIAN ATTACK BOATS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ BEFORE FIRING WARNING SHOTS

BORDER WALL FUNDS ALREADY SPENT: The Pentagon announced this month that at the direction of the White House, it is canceling $10.4 billion in border wall construction projects that were being built with funds that President Donald Trump diverted from other military budgets after Congress refused to fund the wall projects to the extent Trump wanted.

Yesterday, the Pentagon said it has no idea if any of the money will be recovered and spent on the projects that were delayed because of the end run around Congress.

"I can't quantify that right now. We're still working our way through that," said Kirby. So, the bottom line is that we're looking hard at what reallocation is possible, and what amounts and to what other programs, and we just don't have solidity on that right now. We just don't have a good answer right now."

BIDEN CANCELS REMAINDER OF TRUMP BORDER WALL PROJECTS FUNDED BY PENTAGON

DIVERSITY WATCH: When a two-star general is promoted to a three-star general, it's not usually major news, except maybe to the general and his friends and family.

But the Army sent out a release yesterday to call attention to Maj. Gen. A.C. Roper's promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as deputy commander, U.S. Northern Command.

"The upcoming promotion of Maj. Gen. A.C. Roper marks a first in Army Reserve history - the component's first African American in its 113-year history to achieve the rank of lieutenant general," said the release.

INDUSTRY WATCH: Lockheed Martin is pulling out its support personnel from a base in Iraq, where they maintain F-16s for the Iraqi Air Force, because of the increasing threat from local militias, according to Air Force Magazine.

"In coordination with the U.S. government and with employee safety as our top priority, Lockheed Martin is relocating our Iraq-based F-16 team," the company said in a statement. "We value our partnership with the Iraqi Air Force and will continue to work with the Iraq and U.S. governments to ensure mission success going forward."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Colonial Pipeline attack: What you need to know

Washington Examiner: What to know about DarkSide, the hacking group responsible for Colonial Pipeline cyberattack

Washington Examiner: Colonial Pipeline aims for restart this week after cyberattack

Washington Examiner: Biden adds Colonial Pipeline cyberattack to sales pitch for massive infrastructure package

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Why the DarkSide hack reeks of a Kremlin 'asymmetric' strike

Washington Examiner: Navy harassed by 13 Iranian attack boats in Strait of Hormuz before firing warning shots

Washington Examiner: Israel accuses Western powers of inflaming violence in Jerusalem

Washington Examiner: China blames Biden's decision to leave Afghanistan after deadly attack on girls' school

Foreign Policy: Biden Looks for Defense Hotline With China

AP: China Defends Handling Of Rocket That Fell To Earth

NBC News: We Will Kill You': Thousands Of Afghans Who Helped U.S. Want To Evacuate Before The Taliban Finds Them

Washington Post: Last 'low-value' Afghan detainee asks to be freed from Guantánamo Bay as U.S. troops leave Afghanistan

Wall Street Journal: Pentagon Weighs Scrapping Big Cloud-Computing Project

Defense News: White House's Slate Of Nominees Would Put Familiar Faces Back In The Pentagon

Defense One: Army Leaders Have Agreed to Cap Troop Size, Top General Says

Reuters: Romanian President Says More NATO Presence Needed In Eastern Europe

Air Force Magazine: One Year From First Flight, Ray Tours B-21 Factory, Bomber Test Enterprise

Navy Times: Cannibalized Parts, Systems That Sailors Can't Fix: LCS Maintenance Woes Could Get Worse, Watchdog Warns

Washington Post: Capitol Police must make major cultural shift to confront rising threats, inspector general says

Washington Post: French court dismisses landmark case against the U.S. makers of Agent Orange

Wired.com: The Pentagon Inches Toward Letting AI Control Weapons

Air Force Magazine: Space Force Looks to Boost Cyber Defenses of Satellites with Acquisition Reorganization

Air Force Magazine: Lockheed Martin Personnel Leaving Iraqi F-16 Base Because of Militia Threats

Calendar

TUESDAY | MAY 11

9:30 a.m. G50 Dirksen - Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nominations of Michael McCord to be undersecretary of defense (comptroller); and Ronald Moultrie to be undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. https://armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/nomination

11:30 a.m. - Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association virtual symposium: "Army: Building for Multi-Domain Operations," with Todd Boudreau, deputy commandant of the Army Cyber School; Army Senior Adviser for Science and Technology Alex Miller; Michael Monteleone III, director of the Army's Space and Terrestrial Communications Directorate; Army Brig. Gen. Charles Parker, deputy director for command, control, communications, and computer/cyber systems at the J6, Joint Staff; and Mark Pomerleau, reporter at C4ISRNET. https://dcevents.afceachapters.org/AFCEADCArmyEvent

12 p.m. - Hudson Institute virtual discussion: "The U.S. Military and Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority," Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., chair of the House Armed Services Committee's Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems Subcommittee; Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., member of the House Armed Services Committee's Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee; Dave Tremper, electromagnetic warfare director in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; Maren Leed, executive director of the National Spectrum Consortium; Bryan Clark, senior fellow and director of the Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology; Timothy Walton, fellow at the Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology; and Dan Patt, adjunct fellow at the Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology. https://hudson.org/events

1 p.m. - Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies' Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs Future Strategy Forum: "The Future of National Security and Technology," with former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller, research fellow at the Hoover Institution. https://csis.org/events/future-strategy-forum

4 p.m. - Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute virtual discussion: "Defense Priorities," Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I. https://reaganfoundation.org/reagan-institute/events

WEDNESDAY | MAY 12

11 a.m. 2118 Rayburn - House Armed Services Committee hearing: "An Update on Afghanistan, with David Helvey, acting assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs; and Brig. Gen. Matthew Trollinger, deputy director for politico-military affairs, Joint Staff, J-5. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

11 a.m. - Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual Space Power Forum with Lt. Gen. J.T. Thompson, commander of the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center; and retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute. Video posted afterward at https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/

1 p.m. - The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies' Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs virtual Future Strategy Forum: "The Future of National Security and Technology," https://csis.org/events/future-strategy-forum

2:30 p.m. 106 Dirksen - Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: "Military and civilian personnel programs in the Department of Defense in review on the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2022 and the Future Years Defense Program." https://armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

4:30 p.m. 232A Russell - Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: "Department of Defense budget posture for nuclear forces in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2022 and the Future Years Defense Program," with Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director, Navy Strategic Systems Programs; Gen. Timothy Ray, commander, Air Force Global Strike Command; Andrew Walter, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear matters; and Leonor Tomero, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy. https://armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

4:30 a.m. - Intelligence National Security Alliance virtual "Wednesday Wisdom" discussion, with former Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vincent Stewart, on issues related to diversity and inclusion in both the military services and the intelligence community. https://insaonline.org/event/wednesday-wisdom

THURSDAY | MAY 13

9:15 a.m. - American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research web event "The Joint Expeditionary Force: A European asset," with Elisabeth Braw, resident fellow, AEI; Nick Carter, chief of the defence staff, UK Ministry of Defence; James Heappey, minister for the armed forces, U.K. Ministry of Defence; Peter Hultqvist, Swedish Defense Minister; Artis Pabriks, Latvian Defense Minister; and Rep. Mike Turner, ranking member, House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. https://aei.org/events/the-joint-expeditionary-force

9:30 a.m. G50 Dirksen - Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Christine Wormuth to be Secretary of the Army. https://armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/nomination

9:30 a.m. - Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar: "The Biden administration's North Korea policy review," with former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill, professor at Columbia University; former Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs Robert Gallucci, professor at Georgetown University. https://csis.org/events

3 p.m. - Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar: "National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence: America and the New Innovation Race," with Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, chair of NSCAI; Gilman Louie, NSCAI commissioner and co-founder of Alsop Louie Partners; Andrei Iancu, nonresident senior adviser at CSIS; and John Hamre, president and CEO of CSIS. https://csis.org/events/national-security-commission

5 p.m. - Institute for Corean-American Studies Spring Symposium Special: "Humanity, Liberty, Peace and Security, The Korean Peninsula Issues and US National Security," with Former undersecretary of defense for policy Michele Flournoy, co-founder and managing partner, WestExec Advisors. https://eventbrite.com/e/icas-spring-symposium

FRIDAY | MAY 14

9 a.m. - Atlantic Council webinar: "Transforming the British Army," with Gen. Mark Carlton-Smith, chief of the general staff of the British army. https://atlanticcouncil.org/event

9 a.m. - Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies webinar: "The Future of Afghanistan After U.S. Withdrawal," former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute, CEO of Cambridge Global Advisers. https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

11 a.m. 2118 Rayburn - House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems hearing: "Operations in Cyberspace and building Cyber Capabilities Across the Department of Defense," with Mieke Eoyang, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy; and Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander, U.S. Cyber Command, director, National Security Agency. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

12 p.m. - Hudson Institute virtual event, "A Conversation with David Albright," with Albright, one of the few nuclear experts granted access to the Iranian Atomic Archive captured by Israel in 2018, and Michael Doran senior fellow at Hudson. https://eventbrite.com/e/virtual-event

Tags: National Security, Daily on Defense

Original Author: Jamie McIntyre

Original Location: Pentagon says, so far, military unaffected by Colonial Pipeline shutdown