Colonial Pipeline’s
Paying ransom was right thing for U.S., says CEO
chief executive confirmed it paid $4.4 million (U.S.) to hackers who broke into its computer system.
NEW YORK—The operator of the U.S.’s largest fuel pipeline confirmed it paid $4.4 million to a gang of hackers who broke into its computer systems.
Colonial Pipeline said Wednesday that after it learned of the May 7 ransomware attack, the company took its pipeline system offline and needed to do everything in its power to restart it quickly and safely, and made the decision then to pay the ransom.
“This decision was not made lightly,” but it was one that had to be made, a company spokesperson said. “Tens of millions of Americans rely on Colonial — hospitals, emergency medical services, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, airports, truck drivers and the traveling public.”
Colonial Pipeline’s CEO, Joseph Blount, told the Wall Street Journal he authorized the payment because the company didn’t know the extent of the damage and wasn’t sure how long it would take to bring the pipeline’s systems back.
“I know that’s a highly controversial decision, but it was the right thing to do for the country,” he said.
Blount said Colonial paid the ransom in consultation with experts who previously dealt with the group behind the attacks, DarkSide, which rents out its ransomware to partners to carry out the actual attacks.
Multiple sources had confirmed to the Associated Press that Colonial Pipeline had paid the criminals who committed the cyberattack a ransom of nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency for the software decryption key required to unscramble their data network.
A ransom payment of 75 Bitcoin was paid the day after the criminals locked up Colonial’s corporate network, according to Tom Robinson, co-founder of the cryptocurrency-tracking firm Elliptic.