CEO Joseph Blount defended the company's decision to pay the ransom to the DarkSide ransomware gangthat targeted its systems about two weeks ago in an interview, saying the company did what was "right for the country."
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Blount admitted that Colonial Pipeline was forced to pay a large sum of money ($4.4 million) to the ransomware group. It all started on May 7, when an employee saw the ransom note that the hackers had left on the company's systems.
Learn more: Colonial Pipeline: Ransomware attack hits largest US fuel pipeline
Colonial Pipeline, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, is the company that manages the largest fuel pipeline in the US and was forced to shut down its pipeline operations and IT systems after the attack.
The company says it is responsible for providing 45% of the fuel on the East Coast.
The revelation of the incident caused market panicin some cities in the United States.
See also: How long do ransomware groups stay on networks before being detected?
It took the company about a week to restore its systems.
The Colonial Pipeline is a critical infrastructure project in the United States , and its proper operation is vital to the entire country. With that in mind, the CEO decided he had to approve the $4.4 million payment.
The DarkSide ransomware gang has been at the center of attention since this attack. The hackers (like many other ransomware gangs) use the tactic of double blackmail. That is, they steal data before encrypting systems and then threaten that if a ransom is not paid for the decryption key, the data will be leaked.
See also: Toshiba TEC Corp: Subsidiary falls victim to DarkSide ransomware
Joseph Blount acknowledged that paying the ransom was a “highly controversial” decision and certainly not an easy one. However, the Colonial Pipeline CEO said it was the right thing to do, considering the potential impact on the United States’ energy supply.
The FBI confirmed that DarkSide ransomware was responsible for the attack.
DarkSide, a ransomware-as-a-service business, is said to have lost control of the blog and its servers, but the hackers who used it in their attacks have already collected over $90 million from at least 47 victims.
Source: ZDNet
