Saudi Aramco has admitted to indirectly leaking sizable amounts of data pilfered from one of its third-party contractors in a cyberattack, which surprisingly doesn’t appear to involve the use of malware like ransomware.
In an emailed statement to the Financial Times, the world’s largest oil producer confirmed a breach had occured earlier this week, but added the incident did not originate on its computers, and has had no impact on their operations.
The statement comes after cybersecurity experts noticed a dark web post claiming to offer one terabyte of Saudi Aramco data. The poster reportedly claimed to possess information on the location of oil refineries, as well as payroll files and confidential client and employee data.
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Interestingly, while it is currently unclear who was behind the leak, according to reports, the attack on the unidentified contractor doesn’t appear to be part of a typical ransomware campaign.
Smash and grab
Experts noted that the seller who posted the exfiltrated data on the dark web did not mention affiliation with any ransomware operator, even as they demanded $50 million in cryptocurrency to delete the data.
Security experts have foretold of an increase in cyberattacks on critical utilities and infrastructure following the successful campaign against the US-based Colonial Pipeline, prompting the country to spend billions to revitalize its security initiatives.
It isn’t clear whether Saudi Aramco or its contractor heeded the extortion demands, but since there’s no indication of any data being encrypted in the attack, the primary concern would have been to keep the information away from its competitors.
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Via Financial Times
