Colonial Pipeline Pays 4.4 Million in Bitcoin to End Ransomware Attack

Last week, the CEO of Colonial Pipeline stated that they gave a 4.4 Million dollar ransom payment to a Russian hack group called Darkside. The decision did not come easy, but with Colonial Pipeline being such a huge part of the US Economy, there was no other way to resolve the matter quickly. Colonial is responsible for 100 million gallons of gasoline a day. May 7th, when the attack started,  operations shut down, and it sent the public into a frenzy. With no end in sight, people started filling up their tanks, causing long lines, and gas station outages all over the west coast.

Although the criminals were paid and things were going back to normal, this shows that a lot of systems are still vulnerable. Over the past few years, streaming services, hospitals, cities, and more have been attacked. Any system without the proper protection can be compromised.