Depending on where you live, you may have noticed gas shortages in your area. This is due to a ransomware cyberattack that forced a shutdown of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline. Last Friday, hackers locked up Colonial pipeline’s computer systems and demanded a ransom to release them

In response, Colonial shutdown to prevent the malware from impacting its industrial control systems, although the hackers didn’t take control of the pipeline’s operations. According to the Georgia-based company, they’ve restarted, and gasoline deliveries are being made in all of its markets, but it will take “several days” to return to normal. They also said some areas may experience “intermittent service interruptions during this start-up period.”

Colonial Pipeline reports they’re making “substantial progress” in restoring full service. According to Associated Press , they have confirmed sources who say the company paid the criminals a ransom of nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency for the software decryption key required to unscramble their data network.

The ransom of 75 Bitcoins was paid Saturday, May 8. According to Tom Robinson, co-founder of the cryptocurrency-tracking firm Elliptic, this was a day after the Colonial’s corporate network was locked up. Prior to Robinson’s blog post, two people briefed on the case had confirmed the payment amount to the Associated Press. 

According to the Georgia-based company, they have restarted and gasoline deliveries are being made in all of its markets, but it will take “several days” to return to normal, and some areas may experience “intermittent service interruptions during this start-up period.”

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