Colonial Pipeline Co. reportedly paid more than $4 million to hackers in order to get its pipeline back up and running.
“The payments have been made to the terrorists,” billionaire John Catsimatidis, told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday morning. “I understand from my sources that $4 million was paid.”
When asked by reporters Thursday if he knew about the ransom payment, Joe Biden said he had “no comment.”
Biden when asked if he was briefed on Colonial Pipeline Co. paying ransom to attackers:
"I have no comment on that." pic.twitter.com/dMH0QuzV6I
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) May 13, 2021
Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing two people familiar with the transaction, that Colonial paid the hackers nearly $5 million.
Once the payment was made, in untraceable cryptocurrency, the hackers gave the pipeline operator a decrypting tool to restore the network, according to the Bloomberg report. Video Below
A restarting of the pipeline will in the next few days help restore the flow of gasoline across the Eastern part of the U.S where fuel shortages are abundant.
The 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline, which transports more than 100 million gallons of fuel per day, or almost half of the East Coast’s supply, was taken offline on Friday by a Russian hacking group called DarkSide that demanded $100 million ransom, Fox Business reported.
United Refining Company chairman and CEO John Catsimatidis weighs in on the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Thursday:
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