Saturday, September 21

United States oil giant Halliburton verifies cyberattack behind systems shutdown

Image: Midjourney

Halliburton, among the world’s biggest suppliers of services to the energy market, has actually verified a cyberattack that required it to close down a few of its systems previously today.

“On August 21, 2024, Halliburton Company (the “Company”) realised that an unapproved 3rd party got to particular of its systems,” the oil services giant stated in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“When the Company discovered of the problem, the Company triggered its cybersecurity reaction strategy and introduced an examination internally with the assistance of external consultants to examine and remediate the unapproved activity.”

The business included that the event (initially reported by Reuters on Wednesday based upon details offered by confidential sources) triggered it to close down some systems to consist of the breach.

Halliburton likewise reported the breach to appropriate police, and its IT professionals are now dealing with bring back impacted gadgets and examining the attack’s effect.

“The Company’s action efforts consisted of proactively taking specific systems offline to assist secure them and informing police. The Company’s continuous examination and reaction consist of repair of its systems and evaluation of materiality,” Halliburton stated.

“The Company is interacting with its clients and other stakeholders. The Company is following its process-based security requirements for continuous operations under the Halliburton Management System, and is working to determine any results of the event.”

Nature of the attack yet to be exposed

The oil companies has yet to expose the nature of the attack, with a Department of Energy representative validating on Thursday that “the specific nature of the occurrence is unidentified at this time.”

Established in 1919, Halliburton utilizes over 40,000 individuals and supplies oil innovations, items, and services to energy business worldwide. In July, Halliburton reported earnings of $5.8 billion and an operating margin of 18% for the 2nd quarter of 2024.

A Halliburton representative was not instantly readily available for remark when gotten in touch with by BleepingComputer earlier today.

In 2021, the DarkSide ransomware gang struck the systems of Colonial Pipeline, the biggest fuel pipeline in the United States, which provides approximately half of all the fuel on the U.S. East Coast, requiring it likewise to take some systems offline to consist of the attack and momentarily stop all pipeline operations.

The DarkSide ransomware gang quickly closed down after increased attention from police, the U.S. federal government, and the media, however not before Colonial Pipeline paid $4.4 million in cryptocurrency for a decryptor, most later on recuperated by the FBI.

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