A recent report from Wired reveals that a week after a ransomware attack shut down Colonial Pipeline halting fuel distribution on the East Coast, the company paid a reported $5 million dollar ransom to regain control of their systems and resume operations. The payoff may lead to future ransomware attacks, as one expert notes: "Unfortunately, it’ll help keep United States critical infrastructure providers in the crosshairs. If a sector proves to be profitable, they’ll keep on hitting it.”