{"id":305030,"date":"2021-07-21T19:50:01","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T16:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/saudi-aramco-facing-50m-cyber-extortion-over-leaked-data\/"},"modified":"2021-07-21T19:50:01","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T16:50:01","slug":"saudi-aramco-facing-50m-cyber-extortion-over-leaked-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/saudi-aramco-facing-50m-cyber-extortion-over-leaked-data\/","title":{"rendered":"#Saudi Aramco facing $50M cyber extortion over leaked data"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Saudi Aramco facing $50M cyber extortion over leaked data<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n In this June 28, 2021 file photo, a Saudi Aramco engineer monitors the central control room of the Khurais oil field, 150 kilometers east-northeast of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, July 21, 2021, Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant acknowledged that leaked data from the company\u2014files now app<\/a>arently being used in a cyber-extortion attempt involving a $50 million ransom demand\u2014likely came from one of its contractors. Credit: AP Photo\/Amr Nabil, File
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Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant acknowledged Wednesday that leaked data from the company\u2014files now apparently being used in a cyber-extortion attempt involving a $50 million ransom demand\u2014likely came from one of its contractors.<\/p>\n

The Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Saudi Aramco, told The Associated Press that it “recently became aware of the indirect release of a limited amount of company data which was held by third-party contractors.”<\/p>\n

The oil firm did not say which contractor found itself affected nor whether that contractor had been hacked or if the information leaked out another way.<\/p>\n

“We confirm that the release of data was not due to a breach of our systems, has no impact on our operations and the company continues to maintain a robust cybersecurity posture,” Aramco said.<\/p>\n

A page accessed by the AP on the darknet\u2014a part of the internet hosted within an encrypted network and accessible only through specialized anonymity-providing tools\u2014claimed the extortionist held 1 terabyte worth of Aramco data. A terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes.<\/p>\n

The page offered Aramco a chance to have the data deleted for $50 million in cryptocurrency, while another timer counted down from $5 million, likely in an effort to pressure the company. It remains unclear who is behind the ransom plot.<\/p>\n

Aramco has been targeted before by a cyberattack. In 2012, the kingdom’s oil giant found itself hit by the so-called Shamoon computer virus, which deleted hard drives and then displayed a picture of a burning American flag on computer screens. The attack forced Aramco to shut down its network and destroy over 30,000 computers.<\/p>\n

U.S. officials later blamed that attack on Iran, whose nuclear enrichment program had just been targeted by the Stuxnet virus, likely an American and Israeli creation.<\/p>\n

In 2017, another virus swept across the kingdom and disrupted computers at Sadara, a joint venture between Aramco and Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co. Officials at the time warned it could be another version of Shamoon.<\/p>\n

The sliver of Aramco that now trades publicly on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange stood at 34.90 riyals a share, or $9.30, after trading stopped last week for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. That puts the company’s valuation at around $1.8 trillion, making it one of the world’s most-valued companies.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Saudi Arabia warns destructive computer virus has returned (Update)<\/a>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n

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\n Saudi Aramco facing $50M cyber extortion over leaked data (2021, July 21)
\n retrieved 21 July 2021
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