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The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Colonial pays hackers $5M | Expects to restore all service by midday | Fauci says vaccinated don’t have to wear masks outside | Palm Beach officials prepare for possible Trump indictment | GOP rep compares Jan. 6 to ‘normal tourist visit’ | Biden’s spending proposals hit speed bumps
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According to news reports, Colonial Pipeline paid the cybergang known as DarkSide the ransom it demanded in return for a decryption key.
Colonial Pipeline Co., operator of the largest U.S. fuel pipeline, reportedly paid $5 million to criminals behind a ransomware attack that has sent fuel prices spiking up and down the East Coast.
Sources familiar with the payout told Bloomberg that representatives of Colonial Pipeline paid the cybergang known as DarkSide the ransom it demanded in return for a decryption tool that allowed the firm to restore its computer network disabled in last week’s attack.
By Mike Jeffers and William Turton (Bloomberg)
The largest gasoline pipeline in America is returning to service, recovering from a cyberattack late Friday that raised pump prices and choked fuel supplies across the eastern U.S.
The Colonial Pipeline a critical source of gasoline and diesel for the New York area and the rest of the East Coast was set to restart around 5 p.m. Eastern time, according to a company statement. The Alpharetta, Georgia-based operator said over the weekend that it was forced to take systems offline on May 7 in response to the ransomware attack. Even with full service restored, it will take about two weeks for gasoline stored in Houston to reach East Coast filling stations.
AMERICA S largest gas pipeline was shut down Friday after a highly sophisticated cyberattack.
A Russian crime group named DarkSide is allegedly behind the attack, which caused Colonial Pipeline to temporarily shut down operations on Friday.
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The Russian crime group DarkSide is supposedly behind the attackCredit: Reuters
Colonial Pipeline transports 2.5 million barrels of gas per day between Texas and New Jersey, making up roughly 45 percent of all fuel used on the East Coast.
In a statement, the company said it proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which has temporarily halted all pipeline operations, and affected some of our IT systems.
POLITICO Playbook: Fury over Anglo-Saxon caucus
Presented by Facebook
Framing their new organization around former President Donald Trump, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) plan to call their group the “America First Caucus.” | Susan Walsh/AP Photo
DRIVING THE DAY
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) and
PAUL GOSAR (R-Ariz.) are planning to launch a House caucus based on “uniquely Anglo-Saxon” (read: “white people”) traditions has GOP leaders and Democrats protesting the embrace of blatant racism by some in the chamber. All eyes are on House Republican Leader
KEVIN MCCARTHY, who last night tweeted his disapproval of the proposed new group but who will no doubt be called on to do more to stop it entirely.