The FBI saves the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline from an attack by Russian hackers
Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 August 2009 05:26 Written by Jeffreycarr Tuesday, 25 August 2009 12:04
UPDATE: I just heard from a contact that British Petroleum says the report of a hacker attack on the BTC pipeline is false. That oil was shifted to a different pipeline but not because of a Russian orchestrated hacker attack.
According to a news report on a Georgian Web site, Russian hackers under the direction of the GRU/FSB took down the data server of the BTC Pipeline on August 24th, 2009, effectively shutting down the second longest oil pipeline in the world. An FBI team and an un-identified intelligence service regained control of the pipeline’s data server and migrated it to Washington. The BTC pipeline has resumed normal operation.
Here’s the fairly short story as it appears on 1TV’s Web site:
Russian hackers through the agency of Russian Special Service vandalized servers of energy pipe, carrying gas from Azerbaijan to Europe bypassing Russia, 1news.az and Aviation Week report. According to the publication, Russian hackers are long attacking Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline data server. Hacker attacks caused suspension in BTC operations, forcing Eastern Oil Consortium to redirect the oil through Baku-Novorossiysk Russian pipeline. “After U.S. experts restored the BTC server, the pipeline operation was recovered,” Aviation Week informs.
The paper says attacks had the same IPs as those of Estonian websites swamp during 2007 Estonian Cyberwar. The source stresses that cyber crime officers of the Intelligence Service and FBI got BTC data servers under control and migrated them to Washington.
If this account is accurate, it has several intriguing components to it:
- A confirmed FSB/GRU-led hacker operation against a long-time target of GRU interest, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.
- This attack was traced to the same servers used during the Estonia attack, which connects these hackers and the FSB/GRU handlers with Nashi Commissar Konstantin Goloskokov who claimed credit for orchestrating the Estonia attack in 2007 with a handful of Nashi members from an unrecognized republic of the former Soviet Union.
- The use of the FBI in this operation, probably directed by FBI Assistand Director Shawn Henry from his new FBI office in Tallinn, Estonia.
One year ago today, Aviation Week reported on a train explosion designed to interrupt oil flow from the same pipeline. That article had referred to the long-standing interest that the GRU had in the pipeline:
There is reason for concern. Reports circulating during 2003 hinted that the Russian GRU – part of Moscow’s military intelligence community – was allocating funds to hire and train mercenaries in pipeline sabotage, and some Western intelligence sources warned of possible sabotage acts against the lucrative 1,100 mile Ceyhan oil project.
I’m looking for confirmation on the details of this story now, and will post updates as I have them.
Background on the BTC Pipeline
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhun (BTC) Pipeline Project starts at the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan, extends through Georgia crossing the northeast border into Turkey and continues south-southwest to a new marine terminal at Ceyhun in Iskenderun Gulf. It is the second longest pipeline in the world (1,768 kilometers) and discharges one million barrels of oil per day.
The pipeline is operated by British Petroleum with other oil producer partners including SOCAR (Azerbaijan), Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, StatOilHydro (Norway), TPAO (Turkey), ENI (Italy), TOTAL SA (France), Itochu (Japan), INPEX (Japan), and HESS (US).
[...] think of when I see the sea ravaged edifice is something out of a Life Without People episode. The FBI saves the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline from an attack by Russian hackers – intelfusion.net 08/25/2009 According to a news report on a Georgian Web site, Russian hackers [...]