US seizes $2.three million Colonial Pipeline paid to ransomware attackers

US seizes $2.3 million Colonial Pipeline paid to ransomware attackers

Enlarge (credit score: Getty Pictures)

The FBI mentioned it has seized $2.three million paid to the ransomware attackers who paralyzed the community of Colonial Pipeline and touched off gasoline and jet gasoline provide disruptions up and down the East Coast final month.

In greenback quantities, the sum represents about half of the $4.Four million that Colonial Pipeline paid to members of the DarkSide ransomware group following the Might 7 assault, The Wall Avenue Journal reported, citing the corporate’s CEO. The DarkSide decryptor device was broadly recognized to be sluggish and ineffective, however Colonial paid the ransom anyway. Within the interview with the WSJ, CEO Joseph Blount confirmed that the shortcomings prevented the corporate from utilizing it and as an alternative needed to rebuild its community by way of different means.

Reducing off the oxygen provide

On Monday, the US Justice Division mentioned it had traced 63.7 of the roughly 75 bitcoins Colonial Pipeline paid to DarkSide, which the Biden administration says is probably going situated in Russia. The seizure is exceptional as a result of it marks one of many uncommon occasions a ransomware sufferer has recovered funds it paid to its attacker. Justice Division officers are relying on their success to take away a key incentive for ransomware assaults—the thousands and thousands of {dollars} attackers stand to make.

Learn 11 remaining paragraphs | Feedback

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *