According to a report by US media on May 13 local time, two informed sources revealed that Colonial Pipeline paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers last Friday. Earlier this week, reports indicated the company had no intention of paying the ransom to help restore operations at the largest fuel pipeline in the United States.
Insiders stated that within hours after the cyberattack, the company paid a hefty ransom in untraceable cryptocurrency, highlighting the immense pressure the company was under. After receiving the payment, the hackers provided the company with a decryption tool to restore its computer network. A person familiar with the company’s operations said that the tool was so slow that the pipeline operator continued using its own backups to help restore the system.
Previously, multiple US media outlets reported that Colonial Pipeline had no plans to pay the ransom and instead hoped to restore data by working with cybersecurity firms using backup systems. Acting Director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Brandon Wales, also commented on the incident, advising the company against paying the ransom as it would encourage the profitability of hacker attacks.
Following the news, Colonial Pipeline declined to comment. US President Joe Biden said he had “no comment,” adding that Colonial Pipeline should have already restored full transport capacity and that the fuel shortage situation on the East Coast of the US would end within days.