Colonial Pipeline Company has no plans to pay hackers

The owner of the Colonial pipeline has no plans to pay the ransom demanded by the hackers who encrypted their data, sources familiar with the company said Wednesday.

Illustration. The hack brought down the pipeline, now in its sixth day, and led to panic buying and gas shortages in the Southeastern United States. Colonial said it began reopening its pipeline late Wednesday afternoon, a process that could take days, but declined to comment on the ransom issue. Colonial is working closely with law enforcement, the Department of Energy, and US cybersecurity company FireEye to minimize damage and restore operations. Colonial and government responses to the breach are being closely watched following one of the most direct hacking attacks on US critical infrastructure after years of warnings. Ransomware attacks have increased in number and ransom prices, with hackers encrypting data and seeking cryptocurrency payments to unlock. Investigators in the Colonial case say the malware was distributed by a gang known as DarkSide, which consisted of Russian-speaking people and evaded attack targets in the former Soviet Union. DarkSide previously said that it has no intention of meddling in geopolitics and will be more careful about its affiliates going forward. On Wednesday, the group said on its website that it was “dropping” data from three other victims, including a technology company in Chicago. Officials have so far found no significant connection to the Russian government, concluding instead that the pipeline company that supplies 45% of the US East Coast’s oil was crippled by the attack. ransomware. DarkSide allows “affiliates” to infiltrate targets in different places, then handle ransom negotiation and data release. Two people involved in the Colonial investigation said the man linked in this case was a Russian criminal with no special ties to the government.