The FBI has completed an operation, which resulted in recovery of millions of dollars paid by the Colonial Pipeline operator in a cryptocurrency to a criminal hacking group known as Darkside, the US Department of Justice has announced.
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While it officially remains unknown what cryptocurrency has been tracked, Lisa Monaco, US Deputy Attorney General, said that the FBI recaptured "the majority of the ransom."
"After Colonial Pipeline's quick notification to law enforcement, and pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California earlier today, the Department of Justice has found and recaptured the majority of the ransom Colonial paid to the Dark Side Network in the wake of last month’s ransomware attack," she said.
As iHodl earlier reported, Colonial Pipeline paid $5 million to the DarkSide hackers group. The ransom was paid in the so-called "difficult-to-trace cryptocurrency" within hours after the attack. However, later Elliptic, a blockchain-focused forensic service, found out that the hackers received the ransom in bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin).
Tom Robinson, Elliptic's Co-Founder, says that the wallet received a total of 57 payments with a total value of $17.5 million from 21 wallets since March 4, 2021. It was also reported that US government officials were aware that the company made the payment.
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