Energy security

Energy Companies Attacked by Powerful Malware

The version of destructive computer virus Shamoon was being employed to attack computers in Saudi Arabia and other regions in mid-November, as revealed by US Security firms. International sources recently reported that four years ago the same virus attack had caused damage to tens of thousands of computers at Middle Eastern energy companies.

CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks Inc and Symantec Corp. warned of the new attacks not long ago but didn’t name any victims of the new version of Shamoon, which disables computers by wiping their master boot records that they use for start up. However, the firms did not disclose the extent of damage caused nor identified the hackers.

FireEye said in a blogpost that its unit “has responded to multiple incidents at other organizations in the region.” A spokesman refused to identify the countries or organisations.