![\"Storage](\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AAKNBN4.img?h=533&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f\")
\u00a9 Mark Kauzlarich\/Bloomberg Storage tanks at a Colonial Pipeline Inc. facility in Avenel, N.J. on May 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFederal authorities have recovered more than two million dollars in cryptocurrency paid in ransom to foreign hackers whose attack last month led to the shutdown of a major pipeline that provides nearly half the East Coast\u2019s fuel, according to officials.
The seizure of funds paid by Colonial Pipeline to a Russian hacker ring, DarkSide, marks the first recovery by a new ransomware Justice Department task force. It follows a string of cyber attacks that panicked consumers and led President Biden to warn Russia that it needed to take \u201cdecisive action\u201d against the criminal networks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday we turned the tables on DarkSide,\u201d Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, announcing the recovery on Monday afternoon. \u201cThe Department of Justice has found and recaptured the majority of the ransom\u201d in the wake of last month\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount\u00a0told The Wall Street Journal\u00a0last month that the firm paid $4.4 million in ransom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know that\u2019s a highly controversial decision,\u201d he said. \u201c \u2026 But it was the right thing to do for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"