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Colonial Pipeline Reportedly Paid $5Mln Ransom to Hackers Within Hours of Cyber Attack

© AFP 2023 / DREW ANGERERIn an aerial view, fuel holding tanks are seen at Colonial Pipeline's Dorsey Junction Station on May 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Colonial Pipeline has returned to operations following a cyberattack that disrupted gas supply for the eastern U.S. for days.
In an aerial view, fuel holding tanks are seen at Colonial Pipeline's Dorsey Junction Station on May 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Colonial Pipeline has returned to operations following a cyberattack that disrupted gas supply for the eastern U.S. for days.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 13.05.2021
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The US’ largest gasoline pipeline, supplying nearly half of the fuel for the nation's East Coast, was targeted by a ransomware attack by DarkSide hackers. Although the media rushed to accuse Russia of the attack, US President Joe Biden pointed to a lack of evidence to support the allegation.

The hackers behind last week's cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline extorted nearly $5mln from the company, which the petroleum supplier was forced to transfer in untraceable cryptocurrency within hours of the incident, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the transaction.

The hackers sent the Georgia-based operator a decryption tool to restore the operation of the paralysed computer network after they received the ransom. One of the people familiar with the matter said that the tool was too slow, which forced the company to continue using its own backups to restore the system.

The fresh details contradict earlier reports that the company refused to pay the ransom to resume the pipeline’s operation.

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the pipeline has restored most of its service, hours after the operator announced that it is expected to resume pumping gasoline again later in the day.

US’ Largest Pipeline Suffers Cyberattack

Fuel holding tanks are seen at Colonial Pipeline's Linden Junction Tank Farm on May 10, 2021 in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Alpharetta, Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline, which has the largest fuel pipeline, was forced to shut down its oil and gas pipeline system on Friday after a ransomware attack that has slowed down the transportation of oil in the eastern U.S. On Sunday, the federal government announced an emergency declaration that extends through June 8th and can be renewed. On Monday, the FBI confirmed that the cyberattack was carried out by DarkSide, a cybercrime gang believed to operate out of Russia.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 13.05.2021
Biden to Monitor US Fuel Supply As Colonial Pipeline Resumes Operations, Psaki Says
On 7 May, Colonial Pipeline was targeted by a cyberattack that forced the company to halt its operation.

Its shutdown, caused by Friday's ransomware attack, has triggered fuel shortages in the US, prompting people to stockpile gas out of fear of future disruptions in supply.

The FBI established that the pipeline was targeted with ransomware developed by the hacker group DarkSide, which US media has claimed is a group of Russian cybercriminals.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden gave a press conference where he cited intelligence data as saying that there was no evidence Russia was behind the attack.

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