FBI tracks down part of the Colonial Pipeline's ransom

After the hacker attack on the largest gasoline pipeline in the United States, investigators recovered most of a ransom payment in the digital currency Bitcoin. It is said to be worth around $ 2.3 million. The FBI has tracked down a digital wallet that hackers allegedly used to collect a payment from Colonial Pipeline concerned, FBI deputy director Paul Abbate said at a press conference. The operator of the Colonial Pipeline had admitted in the "Wall Street Journal" at the end of May that it had authorized a payment of 4.4 million dollars. Colonial boss Joseph Blount explained the controversial decision by saying that the company was unsure about the extent of the system damage caused. As a result of the hacker attack, Colonial had temporarily completely ceased operations on the pipeline. About 45 percent of all fuel consumed on the US east coast runs through this pipeline. In parts of the USA there were gasoline bottlenecks and sometimes turbulence at gas stations. The pipeline is now back on track, according to Colonial. "It was an attack on one of our most important national infrastructures," said Lisa Monaco from the US Department of Justice. The US government suspects hackers from the DarkSide group from Russia to be behind the crime. Both US authorities and IT security experts strongly advise companies against paying ransom so as not to incentivize cyber criminals to blackmail. There have been cases of companies paying before, but it is extremely rare to get the money back.