Ransomware attacks like the one that hit Colonial Pipeline are increasingly common

COLONIAL PIPELINE, an American fuel carrier, said on May 8th that it had been the victim of a cybersecurity attack, forcing the firm to shut down its 5,500-mile pipeline, which transports petrol, diesel and jet fuel from the Gulf Coast to America’s east coast. The company said the shutdown was only a precaution. The attack, which occurred two days earlier, was reportedly carried out by DarkSide, a ransomware group thought to be based in Russia or elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.

Such attacks are becoming more common. Even as rates of most crimes remain low in rich countries, cyber-crime—crime committed mostly or entirely by digital means—is on the rise. That includes internet fraud, identity theft and ransomware attacks, like the one suffered by Colonial, where victims’ files are locked up until money is paid. Such attacks were once crude. Ransomware arrived in spam emails and targeted ordinary people’s computers.

These days hackers focus on large organisations and demand big ransoms . Malicious software is injected into specific computer systems. It steals data before locking them. A ransom is then demanded to unlock the files or, increasingly, to prevent them from being leaked. The demand is almost always for payment in Bitcoin, which cyber-criminals prefer to traditional currency because it is liquid and relatively anonymous.

The damage is enormous. NotPetya, a widespread ransomware attack in 2017, is estimated to have cost companies more than $3bn. Ransoms can be eye-watering: an attack in March on the Broward County school system, which includes Fort Lauderdale in Florida, came with a demand for $40m in Bitcoin. In messages leaked by the hackers, one of the district’s negotiators was incredulous: “You cannot possibly think we have anything close to this.” But the consequences of not paying can be just as costly.

Colonial has not said whether it plans to pay the ransom. And it remains to be seen what the costs of the attack will be. The Colonial pipeline transports roughly 45% of all fuel consumed on America’s east coast. If the pipeline remains shut down for long, say, more than five days, some areas could experience shortages leading to higher prices at the pump. For now, the market reaction has been muted.

How much in $USD ransoms?

What about cash?😂

Another reason, besides ecology, not to invest in Bitcoin

I still can’t believe that Bitcoin has become such a big thing, We should return to tulips.

Finally there is actual use for bitcoin - paying ransome to criminals. Much easier than unmarked bills.

Now do USD

所以以后显卡就更难买到了

APompliano

Best practice against ransomware attackers is having a backup of your files that is synched regularly. Then you can tell the attacker to piss off and do a complete reformat of your system making sure you wipe your drive completely clean.

BitcoinEdu Even the criminals are better economists than the no-coiners.

Lol. Considering BTC went up 20x since 2019, a 300% increase payout is actually less BTC than it was in 2019! 😂

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