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Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount has confirmed that his company did in fact pay $4.4 million to the hackers responsible for the ransomware attack on the pipeline system that transports around 45 percent of fuel used on the East Coast, The Wall Street Journal writes. Earlier reporting estimated Colonial Pipeline paid a ransom of nearly $5 million, news that was surprising — not for the amount of money that was paid, but because paying ransoms to cybercriminals is frowned upon by law enforcement agencies.
The situation with Colonial Pipeline is further complicated by the fact that the Colonial Pipeline Company itself was responsible for the shutdown. Blount tells the Journal that its operational systems weren’t directly impacted, but it…
