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posted by janrinok on Tuesday June 08 2021, @05:05PM   Printer-friendly

Justice Dept. Claws Back $2.3M Paid by Colonial Pipeline to Ransomware Gang

Justice Dept. Claws Back $2.3M Paid by Colonial Pipeline to Ransomware Gang:

The U.S. Departmentof Justice said today it has recovered $2.3 million worth of Bitcoin that Colonial Pipeline paid to ransomware extortionists last month. The funds had been sent to DarkSide, a ransomware-as-a-service syndicate that disbanded after a May 14 farewell message to affiliates saying its Internet servers and cryptocurrency stash were seized by unknown law enforcement entities.

On May 7, the DarkSide ransomware gang sprang its attack against Colonial, which ultimately paid 75 Bitcoin (~$4.4 million) to its tormentors. The company said the attackers only hit its business IT networks — not its pipeline security and safety systems — but that it shut the pipeline down anyway as a precaution [several publications noted Colonial shut down its pipeline because its billing system was impacted, and it had no way to get paid].

On or around May 14, the DarkSide representative on several Russian-language cybercrime forums posted a message saying the group was calling it quits.

"Servers were seized, money of advertisers and founders was transferred to an unknown account," read the farewell message. "Hosting support, apart from information 'at the request of law enforcement agencies,' does not provide any other information."

US Has Recovered Ransom Payment Made After Pipeline Hack - Times of India

US has recovered ransom payment made after pipeline hack - Times of India:

WASHINGTON: The Justice Department has recovered the majority of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nation's largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month, officials said Monday. The operation to recover the cryptocurrency from the Russia-based hacker group is the first undertaken by a specialized ransomware task force created by the Justice Department, and reflects what US officials say is an increasingly aggressive approach to deal with a ransomware threat that in the last month has targeted critical industries around the world. "By going after an entire ecosystem that fuels ransomware and digital currency, we will continue to use all of our tools and all of our resources to increase the costs and the consequences of ransomware attacks and other cyber-enabled attacks," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Monday at a news conference announcing the operation.

Also at Washington Post, Threatpost


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  • (Score: 1) by echostorm on Tuesday June 08 2021, @09:42PM

    by echostorm (210) on Tuesday June 08 2021, @09:42PM (#1143280)

    Keep in mind that the reason everything was disrupted was not because the pipelines were threatened, its because they couldn't risk not billing anyone properly.