Ransomware victim Colonial Pipeline paid $5m to get oil pumping again, restored from backups anyway – report

The Register

Colonial Pipeline’s operators reportedly paid $5m to regain control of their digital systems and get the pipeline pumping oil following last week’s ransomware infection.

News of the payoff was broken by Bloomberg – which not only cited anonymous sources but also mocked other news outlets’ anonymous sources for saying earlier this week that the American pipeline operator would never pay the ransom.

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, gloated Bloomberg, while avoiding describing its unnamed people familiar with the company’s efforts in the same terms.

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