The CEO of Colonial Pipeline, Joseph Blount, told the Wall Street Journal that he gave the green light for a $4.4 million ransom to be paid to hackers because company executives were not sure what impact the malware attack had on the company’s system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ransom was paid in consultation with experts who have worked with DarkSide, the malware gang behind the attack, in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blount, who confirmed publicly for the first time that the company had paid the ransom, said: “I know that’s a highly controversial decision. I didn’t make it lightly. I will admit that I wasn’t comfortable seeing money go out the door to people like this. But it was the right thing to do for the country.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After paying with Bitcoin, the company received a decryption key, which was useful but not enough to return the pipeline system immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will take months to restore some of the systems and cost Colonial millions of dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n