Outages continued for about a week before Colonial Pipeline was able to resume operations and the company drew criticism for reportedly paying $5 million in ransom. Paying that sum may have emboldened hackers to strike bigger targets, former senior Department of Homeland Security official Paul Rosenzweig, told USA Today.
“So long as the internet is a place of anonymity, the criminals will be able to act with impunity,” Rosenzweig added. “And why would they stop?”
