Department Of Justice Recovers Millions In Colonial Pipeline Ransom Paid To Hackers

One month after Colonial Pipeline learned its system had been breached and paid millions to hackers, federal officials announced they have recovered $2.3 million of the ransom paid as a result of the cyberattack.

On Monday, the Department of Justice revealed investigators were able to recover almost 64 bitcoin cryptocurrencies. At the time of the ransom, Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount told the Wall Street Journal his company paid hackers $4.4 million, which is equivalent to about 75 bitcoin.

Atlanta-based Colonial Pipeline provides about 45% of the fuel for the East Coast. The cyberattack resulted in fuel shortages and rising gas prices. Colonial Pipeline was shut down for six days before it recovered from the ransomware attack and resumed operations.

Stephanie Hinds, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, appeared content with the work of investigation and the portion of the ransom that was recovered.

“The extortionists will never see this money,” Hinds said in a statement. “This case demonstrates our resolve to develop methods to prevent evildoers from converting new methods of payment into tools and extortion for undeserved profits.”

The DOJ and FBI worked together to recover the ransom that was believed to be paid to the criminal enterprise group known as the DarkSide. Although the FBI discourages ransom payments, Blount felt it was “the right thing to do for the country.”

Blount is slated to testify Tuesday before the Senate about the cyberattack and appear in front of a House committee the following day.