Colonial Pipeline Co. paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers on Friday to help restore America’s largest fuel pipeline, according to two people familiar with the transaction. The company paid the ransom in difficult-to-trace cryptocurrency within hours after the attack. Once they received the payment, the hackers offered the decrypting tool to restore affected computer systems but it worked slowly. Finally, the 5,500-mile pipeline responsible for carrying fuel from refineries along the Gulf Coast to New Jersey resumed working after six days. The disruption led to stranding gasoline supplies across half the East coast, raising gas prices at the pump and to some states preemptively declaring an emergency. In the last decade, there were attacks on a string of hospitals, schools, law firms and even 2,400 local governments.
Ransomware attacks occur because of how easy it is for the attacker to come into a computing network. Hackers stole people’s identity, corrupted data and extorted money, with estimated losses of $4.2 billion.Hackers used more complexe technologies. Studies and organizations concluded this is users problem because thay need become more educated. Efforts need to be made to provide to users more knowledge and even to change their behavior online.Late last month, a Ransomware Task Force made up of representatives of technology firms submitted an 81-page report to President Joe Biden. He signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at strengthening U.S. cybersecurity defenses. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are calling for new measures. When asked by reporters now if he knew about the ransom payment by Colonial Pipeline Co, President Biden said he had “no comment.”
