nprnews_____ = ||| lubuntu at wor2 670N|||How A New Team Of Feds Hacked The Hackers And Got Colonial Pipeline’s Ransom Back||| kickerpage = |||no kicker pagenpr for NPRNEWS||| summarynpr = |||The lynchpin to retrieving $2.3 million, half the company’s payment, was gaining access to the private key linked to the attacker’s Bitcoin account. Here’s how authorities may have gotten it.

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The Justice Department has assembled a new task force to confront ransomware after what officials say was the most costly year on record for the crippling cyberattacks. It managed to recover $2.3 million of the ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline in an attack earlier this year, the department announced Monday.

Andrew Harnik/AP

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Andrew Harnik/AP

National

How A New Team Of Feds Hacked The Hackers And Got Colonial Pipeline’s Ransom Back

The lynchpin to retrieving $2.3 million, half the company’s payment, was gaining access to the private key linked to the attacker’s Bitcoin account. Here’s how authorities may have gotten it.

U.S. Has Recovered Some Of The Millions Paid In Ransom To Colonial Pipeline Hackers