Colonial Pipeline CEO Says Personally Decided To Pay Ransom, Keep It Confidential

Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount told a US Senate panel on Tuesday that he personally made a decision to pay ransom to hackers and keep it confidential seeking to restore the company's operations as soon as possible

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2021) Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount told a US Senate panel on Tuesday that he personally made a decision to pay ransom to hackers and keep it confidential seeking to restore the company's operations as soon as possible.

"I made the decision to pay and I made the decision to keep the information about the payment as confidential as possible. It was the hardest decision I made in my 39 years in the energy industry," Blount said in a testimony to the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

The ransomware attack caused a brief shutdown of the key pipeline transporting fuel to the US East Coast and forced Colonial to pay around $4.

4 million to Darkside hacking group allegedly based in Russia in exchange for encryption tools. Over half of the sum was later retrieved by US law enforcement agencies.

Blount said the decision to start negotiating with the hackers was made hours after the attack with ransom paid the following day. "I know how critical our pipeline is to the country and I put the interest of the country first," he said.

Blount acknowledged that the US government's general recommendation in such cases is not to pay ransom.