Colonial pipeline I paid a hacker in Eastern Europe With the New York Times, which attacked a network of 75 Bitcoins worth about $ 5 million when paying the ransom The Wall Street Journal report Thursday evening backup Report in Bloomberg News.. By paying a ransom to Dark Side, a group of cybercriminals in Russia or nearby, Colonial was able to begin restoring the network and work to reopen a large pipeline from Texas to the East Coast. .. Full restoration of gas service will take several days.
The federal government has discouraged such payments because it encourages further ransomware attacks. However, many businesses, local governments, and other organizations choose to pay the ransom. Otherwise, corporate data will remain encrypted or leaked or sold on the web, which can be costly and insurance often covers payments.
Ransomware attacks are a growing problem for businesses of all sizes and ranges. According to a last month’s report from the Ransomware Task Force, payments increased 311% to about $ 350 million in 2020, paid in cryptocurrencies, with an average payment of $ 312,493. Bloomberg Report..However, ransoms for large companies like colonials tend to be much higher, especially Dark Side. Boasts of chasing big fish..
Colonial “must pay” cyber expert and digital forensics executive Ondrej Krehel said Bloomberg.. “This is a cybergun. Do you want to die or live? It’s not a situation you can wait for.” But the $ 5 million ransom was “very low,” he added. “The ransom of such a company is usually about $ 25 to $ 35 million. I think the attackers realized they had stepped on the wrong company and caused a large-scale government response.”
President Biden was attacked by the Republican Party over gas shortages, signed an executive order to strengthen cybersecurity after the colonial attack, and retaliated against cybercriminals in the United States on Thursday. He said he might pursue “measures that disrupt their ability to act.” Eight websites related to Dark Side went down on Thursday. Include Times ReportAlthough it was not clear if the United States was involved.
“I don’t think the Kremlin was involved in the attack, but there is a strong reason to believe that the criminals who attacked live in Russia,” he said. Biden said“Responsible countries” added, “We will take decisive action against these ransomware networks.”
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