The FBI claimed it recovered millions of dollars in Bitcoin paid as ransom during the attack against the Colonial Pipeline — a feat that is now generating more questions than answers.

The Department of Justice on Monday touted the recovery of $2.3 million — about half — of the ransom that was collected by hackers in the Colonial Pipeline attack last month. Experts say it was a surprising outcome to an increasingly frequent and severe crime.

"Ransomware is very seldom recovered," said April Falcon Doss, executive director of the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown Law, who described it as "a really big win" for the government. "What we don't know is whether or not this is going to pave the way for future similar successes."

The US Justice Department has recovered the majority of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nation’s largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month, officials said Monday.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will issue a directive later this week requiring all pipeline companies to report cyber incidents to federal authorities after a devastating ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline forced a shutdown of operations.

The Washington Post first reported that DHS’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is responsible for securing critical pipelines, will issue the directive this week following concerns that pipeline operators are not required to report cyber incidents, unlike other critical infrastructure sectors.

Soon after President Joe Biden was pictured visiting former President Jimmy Carter, he began fielding charges that his administration had resurrected the worst of the Georgia Democrat’s time in office.

Not only were there inflation concerns in the wake of massive government spending, but a ransomware attack on a major fuel pipeline delivered Biden’s opponents their latest Carter-themed salvo as drivers spooked by a potential fuel shortage saw prices quickly rise — before filling stations up and down the East Coast went dry.

The claim: Colonial Pipeline hack proves election infrastructure could have been hacked
Communities along the East Coast continue to face gas shortages after the Colonial Pipeline Co. fell victim to a cybersecurity attack.

Social media users are using the breach to resurrect unfounded claims about election fraud.

“If you can hack a pipeline, you can hack a voting machine,” claims a May 10 post.

Other accounts posted memes with the same claim. Examples of those posts are visible here and here.

Colonial Pipeline paid a ransom to hackers after the company fell victim to a sweeping cyberattack, one source familiar with the situation confirmed to CNBC.

A U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed to NBC News that Colonial paid nearly $5 million as a ransom to the cybercriminals.

It was not immediately clear when the transaction took place. Colonial Pipeline did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. The ransom payment was first reported by Bloomberg.

Shortages due to panic buying could last for up to two weeks, analyst says.

Colonial Pipeline said Thursday it has restarted much of its pipeline with deliveries expected in regions in the southeastern U.S. that had experienced gasoline shortages although one analyst said fuel supplies will remain tight for up to two weeks in states where pumps had run dry.

The company restarted operations on its pipeline Wednesday after a cyberattack forced it to shut down the crucial fuel line that delivers nearly half the gasoline to the East Coast.

The national average gas price rose to a seven-year high on Wednesday, and four governors have declared states of emergency as the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline spurred panic buying across the Southeast.

The shutdown of the biggest oil pipeline in the US due to a crippling cyberattack believed to be orchestrated by a Russia-based criminal group pushed Wednesday’s national average price to $3.008 per gallon of gas, according to the Automobile Association of America.