Colonial Pipeline, the US pipeline operator, paid almost $5 million in ransom to hackers who shut down one of the company’s networks. The details of the deal have not been disclosed, but one thing is known for sure — criminals received payment in a cryptocurrency that cannot be tracked. 

Hackers offered the company to restore access to its data in exchange for a hefty sum of money. Colonial Pipeline decided to obey the demand of cyber criminals and paid them several hours after the attack. As soon as the money was transferred to the specified account, hackers gave the victim a decryption key that helped restore the network’s operations. Previously, The Washington Post and Reuters, citing an anonymous source, reported that the pipeline operator was not willing to pay cyber criminals. 

Colonial Pipeline is one of the largest US pipeline operators. On May 8, the company announced that it had been attacked by a ransomware virus. DarkSide, the ransomware group believed to operate in Russia, is suspected of being behind the attack. Colonial Pipeline has restored the network’s operations. But Chevron, the US energy company, foresees some fuel supply problems due to the cyber attack.