Hackers Attempted to Trigger Saudi Plant Explosion
Cyber attackers tried to trigger a deadly explosion at a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia in August, according to The New York Times
Ami Rojkes Dombe
| 18/03/2018
http://www.tasnee.com/en/Pages/default.aspx
A petrochemical company with a plant in Saudi Arabia was hit in August 2017 by a cyberattack aimed at sabotaging the firm’s operations and triggering an explosion, The New York Times reported.
In January 2017, computers crashed at the National Industrialization Company (Tasnee), as well as at Sadara Chemical Company, located 15 miles away.
Within minutes of the attack at Tasnee, the hard drives inside the company’s computers were destroyed and their data wiped clean, the report says. Tasnee officials and researchers at the security company Symantec believe that the intent of the January attacks was to inflict lasting damage on the petrochemical companies and send a political message.
Some technical details of the August attack have been previously reported, but this is the first time the earlier attacks [January 2017] on Tasnee and other Saudi petrochemical companies have been reported, the NYT adds.
According to the report, the attack targeted industrial systems called Triconex safety controllers, manufactured by Schneider Electric. All of the investigators believe the attack was most likely intended to cause an explosion that would have killed people, The Times concluded.
Cyber attackers tried to trigger a deadly explosion at a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia in August, according to The New York Times
http://www.tasnee.com/en/Pages/default.aspx
A petrochemical company with a plant in Saudi Arabia was hit in August 2017 by a cyberattack aimed at sabotaging the firm’s operations and triggering an explosion, The New York Times reported.
In January 2017, computers crashed at the National Industrialization Company (Tasnee), as well as at Sadara Chemical Company, located 15 miles away.
Within minutes of the attack at Tasnee, the hard drives inside the company’s computers were destroyed and their data wiped clean, the report says. Tasnee officials and researchers at the security company Symantec believe that the intent of the January attacks was to inflict lasting damage on the petrochemical companies and send a political message.
Some technical details of the August attack have been previously reported, but this is the first time the earlier attacks [January 2017] on Tasnee and other Saudi petrochemical companies have been reported, the NYT adds.
According to the report, the attack targeted industrial systems called Triconex safety controllers, manufactured by Schneider Electric. All of the investigators believe the attack was most likely intended to cause an explosion that would have killed people, The Times concluded.
