Colonial Pipeline Paid $4.4 Million to Ransomware Hackers: CEO

Traffic on I-95 passes oil storage tanks owned by the Colonial Pipeline Company in Linden, N.J., in a file photograph. Mark Lennihan/AP Photo

Colonial Pipeline Chief Executive Joseph Blount confirmed that the company paid $4.4 million to ransomware attackers because executives were uncertain about the severity of the cyberattack on the firm’s systems and how long the pipeline would remain offline.

“I know that’s a highly controversial decision,” Blount told the Wall Street Journal in a May 19 statement. “I didn’t make it lightly. I will admit that I wasn’t comfortable seeing money go out the door to people like this.”