The U.S. recovered almost all the Bitcoin ransom paid to the perpetrators of the cyber attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. last month in a sign that law enforcement is capable of pursuing online criminals even when they operate outside the nation’s borders.
U.S. officials said Monday that they captured about 63.7 Bitcoin traced to recipients of a 75-Bitcoin ransom paid by Colonial soon after the early May attack that resulted in a shutdown of the nation’s largest gas pipeline. The shutdown had caused fuel shortages across the east coast just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.
Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate said at a Justice Department briefing announcing the seizure that law enforcement identified a virtual wallet used in the ransom payment and then recovered the funds. He said investigators found more than 90 companies victimized by DarkSide, a Russia-linked cybercrime group blamed in the pipeline attack.
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