Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced this morning that the restart of the Colonial Pipeline “went well overnight” and “this should mean things will return to normal by the end of the weekend”:
Colonial Pipeline reports this morning that the restart of the pipeline went well overnight. This should mean things will return to normal by the end of the weekend. Will keep you posted.
— Secretary Jennifer Granholm (@SecGranholm) May 13, 2021
But now we’re learning that the reason why things went so smoothly is that the company paid “nearly $5 million in ransom” to the hackers:
SCOOP: Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5 Million in Ransom https://t.co/RrDctzwEkZ
— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) May 13, 2021
And they paid the ransom “within hours after the attack”:
The company paid the hefty ransom in untraceable cryptocurrency within hours after the attack, underscoring the immense pressure faced by the Georgia-based operator to get gasoline and jet fuel flowing again to major cities. https://t.co/RrDctzwEkZ
— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) May 13, 2021
You’d think for $5 million the hackers would provide a faster tool, but nah:
Once they received the payment, the hackers provided the operator with a decrypting tool to restore its disabled computer network. The tool was so slow that the company continued using its own backups to help restore the system. https://t.co/RrDctzwEkZ
— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) May 13, 2021
Oh, and it’s another black eye for reporting that relies on anonymous sources:
"On Wednesday, media outlets including the Washington Post and Reuters reported that the company had no immediate intention of paying the ransom. Those reports were based on anonymous sources.”https://t.co/Xqc95z2ntw
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) May 13, 2021
And rest easy, America. President Joe Biden just signed an executive order “to chart a new course to improve the nation’s cybersecurity and protect federal government networks”:
The Colonial Pipeline incident is a sobering reminder that our nation faces sophisticated cyber threats.
Today, President Biden signed an executive order to chart a new course to improve the nation's cybersecurity and protect federal government networks. https://t.co/j9wyCKdwj0 pic.twitter.com/bJxVYf2D72
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 13, 2021
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