Feds recover more than $2 million in ransomware payments from Colonial Pipeline hackers

Federal authorities have recovered more than $2 million 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’s 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 “decisive action” against the criminal networks.