Gas crunch from cyberattack intensifies in nation's capital

Gas shortages have spread from the South, almost exhausting supplies in Washington, D

Gas shortages at the pumps have spread from the South, all but emptying stations in Washington, D.C., following a ransomware cyberattack that forced a shutdown of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline. Though the pipeline operator paid a ransom, restoring service was taking time. As Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline reported making “substantial progress” in restoring full service, two people briefed on the matter confirmed that the company had paid the criminals a ransom of about $5 million in cryptocurrency for the software decryption key required to unscramble their data network. The people spoke on condition they not be further identified because they were not authorized to divulge the information. Bloomberg first reported the payment. President Joe Biden declined to comment when asked by a reporter Thursday if he had been briefed about the ransom payment. Biden also said that his administration will try to disrupt the hackers' ability to operate.