The success of the operation – the first of its kind – said Lisa Monaco, Deputy Attorney General. She also added, 63.7 bitcoin, or $2.3 million, was recovered this way.
“By acting against the entire ecosystem driving ransomware and digital currency attacks, we will continue to use all our means and tools to increase the costs and consequences of ransomware and other cyber attacks,” Monaco said. As she added, this was the first operation of a special team formed to fight online fraudsters.
As head of Colonial Pipeline, operating more than 8,000 kilometers of pipeline, the company paid an estimated $4.4 million ransom demanded by hackers from Russia just hours after the cyber attack on its system. However, it took nearly a week to decrypt the data encrypted with the compromised key and restart the fuel transfer.
CP is the largest chain of its kind in the USA, refueling many stations in the southern US. The cyber attack of scammers caused panic among buyers for several days, huge queues and fuel shortages at thousands of gas stations.
