An unknown hacker suspected to be of Eastern European descent and employing Darkside software was responsible for a cyberattack that crippled activities in a pipeline that runs from Houston to New York for five full days. The colonial pipeline is a 55-mile long pipeline that cuts across numerous service stations and it was the victim of the hack on the 7th of May.
The pipeline that has the capacity to transport up to 2.5 million barrels of oil per day that moves various refined products like cooking gas was under siege and data reveals that the hackers received ransom in Bitcoin. Naturally, this will be another avenue to peddle FUD because "Bitcoin makes it easier" for the villains.
I mean, if people can easily hack something so critical to the running of your society, perhaps you should focus on fixing your security rather than beating Bitcoin. I mean, if Bitcoin didn't exist, it would have been fiat used to pay the ransom anyway right?
The affected company paid nearly $5 million in ransom to the perpetrators of this hack and it sort of makes you wonder doesn't it? The first thing that popped into my head was, why not just employ blockchain service to protect your company since they are still unhackable with brute force?
The creators of the Software did their bit by distancing themselves from the action and stressed their apolitical views and their intention of making money. However, this is probably not the end of the story.
This saga is going to go around and come back to bite Bitcoin in the ass when it finally gets mainstream attention. In the midst of Elon's tweets about Bitcoin being "bad" for the climate and whatnot, this story has probably been swept under the rug but will come to light eventually.