Explore the latest news and trends  

Sign up for our weekly security newsletter


Be the first to receive important updates on security





Send

PC Virus Destabilizes RasGas the Qatari Located Natural Gas Supplier

One PC-virus, which impaired the computer system of Qatari-based 'Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co.,' producer of liquid petroleum gas, compelled the company for taking rasgas.com its Internet site offline as well as shutting down its e-mail system, published betabeat.com dated August 30, 2012.

However, the attack didn't affect the production of the globally biggest supplier of LNG, RasGas, according to the company.

Elaborating its revelation, RasGas said that both offshore and onsite operational systems were safe therefore there was no detrimental effect on the company's production of natural gas through the industrial infrastructure located in the city of Ras Laffan. Ft.com reported this, August 30, 2012.

Actually, it was during August 2012 end-week when the company noticed the unfamiliar malware that caused it to disconnect its web-server, e-mail and desktop PCs from the Net during the virus' cleansing.

Meanwhile, owing to the attack, RasGas was going through problems of technical nature, the company reported.

Also, the RasGas virus attack got reported just days following Aramco of Saudi Arabia disclosing its cleansing operation of computers when certain virus had destabilized some 30,000 systems at its site, affecting solely desktop PCs and not the operational plant or any industrial machinery.

The two cyber-attacks occurred after security agencies warned of a virus named "Disstrack" or "Shamoon," which particularly hit the oil and gas companies. To hide its tracks, this malware writes its own content on the captured data-files as also wholly erases the Master Boot Record of the contaminated system.

Nevertheless, there isn't any confirmation yet if Disstrack is the identical malicious program which hit Aramco or RasGas.

Remarking about the newest assaults, Aviv Raff, CTO of Seculert stated that normally targeted assaults were getting employed against organizations characterized with vertical similarity; consequently, it wasn't anything astonishing for finding the kind of assault on one other organization within the oil-and-gas sector itself. Arstechnica.com published this, August 30, 2012.

Conclusively, the uncommon assaults as those hitting RasGas and Aramco has alarmed both Western diplomats and energy traders since they're the foremost familiar online-attacks targeting world suppliers of liquefied gas and crude petroleum from the Middle East.

Related article: PC Makers Agree To Enable ‘DEP’ To Support ‘ASLR’

» SPAMfighter News - 9/6/2012

3 simple steps to update drivers on your Windows PCSlow PC? Optimize your Slow PC with SLOW-PCfighter!Email Cluttered with Spam? Free Spam Filter!

Dear Reader

We are happy to see you are reading our IT Security News.

We do believe, that the foundation for a good work environment starts with fast, secure and high performing computers. If you agree, then you should take a look at our Business Solutions to Spam Filter & Antivirus for even the latest version of Exchange Servers - your colleagues will appreciate it!

Go back to previous page
Next