Colonial Pipeline paid Eastern European hackers nearly $5 million in an untraceable cryptocurrency last week in response to a ransomware attack, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the transaction. A representative from Colonial declined to comment on the report. Colonial closed its pipeline, which feeds nearly 45% of fuel needs on the U.S. East Coast, over the weekend, resulting in fuel shortages across the southeastern U.S. The company announced Wednesday it would begin returning the pipeline to service. On Thursday morning, it reported “substantial progress” in safely restarting the pipeline system and said that product delivery was under way in a majority of the markets that Colonial serves. All markets were projected to begin receiving product by midday.
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