Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom

Re:Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom by whall6 on Thursday May 13, 2021 @12:49PM (#27144360)

In Cambodia, people buy dirt to increase their property’s elevation so that their neighbor’s house floods when the monsoon comes. Then the neighbor has to pay for more dirt and so on throughout the whole neighborhood.

It seems like the attackers are finding the paths of least resistance. Beefing up security at each organization isn’t fixing the underlying problem. It’s just making the next entity the more likely target.

I don’t even know what the underlying problem is though...

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Re:Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom by syrrim on Thursday May 13, 2021 @03:23PM (#27146224)

Suppose that everyone has raised their house up on a pile of dirt. The rain comes down. It fills up the large ditches between people's houses, and leaves the houses dry.

Suppose I implement better, but imperfect, security. It now costs an attacker $6 million, in salaries, paying for exploits, whatever, to hack my system. They still can only get $5 million in ransom. The attack isn't worth doing anymore, so they find a different business.

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Re:Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom by rossjudson on Thursday May 13, 2021 @07:50PM (#27148958)

I don't think you understand how dirt works. Especially when it gets rained on.

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Re:Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom by supertrope on Thursday May 13, 2021 @05:01PM (#27147407)

Like The Netherlands

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Re:Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom by pawsforapplase on Thursday May 13, 2021 @01:19PM (#27144691)

>I don’t even know what the underlying problem is though...

Lack of accountability for either criminals or negligent operators?

Monsoons are not directly caused by individuals, and they cannot be prevented.

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Re:Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom by acherion on Thursday May 13, 2021 @11:04PM (#27150217)

> Beefing up security at each organization isn’t fixing the underlying problem. It’s just making the next entity the more likely target.

This reminds me of the old saying about locking your bicycle on the street. It won't 100% prevent yours from being stolen, but if the other bikes around yours has less secure means of locking, then the thief will likely take those bikes instead of yours.

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Re:Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom by chrismorgan on Thursday May 13, 2021 @11:50PM (#27150499)

Another form: you don’t need to outrun the lion, just the guy next to you.

This also gets taken in dark directions: you don’t even need to run faster than the guy next to you, you just need to trip him up.

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Re:Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom by killingtime74 on Thursday May 13, 2021 @07:40PM (#27148895)

So when I do it I’m flood proofing my house, when the Cambodians do it they’re “buying dirt“?

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Re:Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Nearly $5M in Ransom by petermcneeley on Thursday May 13, 2021 @12:54PM (#27144414)

What a great story reminds me of this: https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/02/22/repost-the-non-liberta...

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