Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5 Million in Ransom
Bloomberg: Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5 Million in Ransom
(Bloomberg) -- Colonial Pipeline Co. paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers on Friday, contradicting reports earlier this week that the company had no intention of paying an extortion fee to help restore the country’s largest fuel pipeline, according to two people familiar with the transaction.
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.
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WNU Editor: Crime pays.
Update: It was getting crazy out there .... Fight at packed NC gas station caught on video as lines — and tensions — are growing (News & Observer). But it is going to take a few days before everything is back to normal .... Colonial Pipeline restarts after hack, but supply chain won’t return to normal for a few days (CNBC).
2 comments:
Well, if companies don't want to put the money for protecting their network, they have to pay the other way.
Splendid, that'll teach the hackers. They won't do that again. Keep ducking 🙉
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