Computer systems at energy firm RasGas have been taken
off-line by a computer virus only days after a similar attack on oil giant
Aramco.
The attacks come as security experts warn of efforts by
malicious hackers to target the oil and energy industry. The attack forced the
Qatar-based RasGas firm to shut down its website and email systems.
RasGas, one of the world's largest producers of liquid
petroleum gas, said production was not hit by the attack. The company said it
spotted the "unknown virus" earlier this week and took desktop
computers, email and web servers off-line as it cleaned up.
The report comes only days after Saudi Arabia's Aramco
revealed it had completed a clean-up operation after a virus knocked out 30,000
of its computers. The cyber-assault on Aramco also only hit desktop computers
rather than operational plant and machinery.
Both attacks come in the wake of alerts issued by
security firms about a virus called "Shamoon" or
"Disstrack" that specifically targets companies in the oil and energy
sectors. Unlike many other contemporary viruses, Shamoon/Disstrack does not
attempt to steal data but instead tries to delete it irrecoverably. The virus
spreads around internal computer networks by exploiting shared hard drives.
Neither RasGas nor Aramco has released details of which virus penetrated its
networks. The vast majority of computer viruses are designed to help
cyber-thieves steal credit card numbers, online bank account credentials and
other valuable digital assets such as login names and passwords. However, an
increasing number of viruses are customised to take aim at specific industries,
nations or companies. The best known of these viruses is the Stuxnet worm which
was written to disable equipment used in Iran's nuclear enrichment efforts.
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