The White House on Monday declined to give advice on whether companies that have been hacked, such as pipeline company Colonial Pipeline, should pay a ransom to the attackers, but a national security official said the White House may offer some advice in the future.
Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber affairs, told reporters that the FBI has been tracking the ransomware group “DarkSide” suspected of launching the attack since at least October of last year.
Neuberger said the U.S. intelligence community is investigating whether the hackers who attacked Colonial have ties to the Russian government or other nation states.
A press release issued under the name DarkSide said Monday that their goal was to make money, not to cause trouble for society.
As for whether the U.S. government advised Colonial on paying the ransom, Neuberger said, “Typically, that is a decision for the civilian sector, and the government is not providing further advice at this time.”
She stated, “Given the increase in ransomware incidents, this is certainly an area we’re looking at right now to see what approach the government should take.”
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