Colonial Pipeline CEO admits to authorizing $4.4 million ransomware payment
CNN
Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount said he authorized a ransom payment of $4.4 million in response to a cyberattack on the company's network earlier this month, according to The Wall Street Journal, which published an interview with the CEO Wednesday.
This is the first public announcement by the company that a ransom had been paid and comes after repeated refusals from the company to discuss the payment, which Blount called "a highly controversial decision." "It was the right thing to do for the country," he told The Wall Street Journal. "I didn't make it lightly. I will admit that I wasn't comfortable seeing money go out the door to people like this."Venezuelan authorities are investigating opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for alleged treason after she expressed support for a US bipartisan bill that seeks to block Washington from doing business with any entity that has commercial ties with the government of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the intelligence community, was briefly placed on a Transportation Security Administration list that prompts additional security screening before flights after her overseas travel patterns and foreign connections triggered a government algorithm earlier this year, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.