Cyberattacks are on the rise – which companies are likely to benefit?

The US Department of Justice has recovered more than $2.3m from last month’s Colonial Pipeline hack incident, but questions persist about how the world’s largest economy – and the rest of us, for that matter – can prevent a future attack on its infrastructure systems.

Malware illustration
(Image credit: © Getty Images/iStockphoto)

On Monday, US officials announced that they had identified a virtual wallet which they suspect is related to DarkSide, the hacking group responsible for last month’s Colonial Pipeline debacle. As a result, they managed to retrieve the 63.7 bitcoin ransom, currently worth about $2.3m.

The Colonial Pipeline, America’s largest fuel pipeline, was shut for five days after the pipeline was confronted on 7 May with a ransomware attack by Darkside. The hacking group is believed to have Russian ties.

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Saloni Sardana

Saloni is a web writer for MoneyWeek focusing on personal finance and global financial markets. Her work has appeared in FTAdviser (part of the Financial Times),  Business Insider and City A.M, among other publications. She holds a masters in international journalism from City, University of London.

Follow her on Twitter at @sardana_saloni