RasGas hit by computer virus

The computer network of the Qatari LNG natural gas producer, RasGas has been hit by a computer virus which took down both its website an e-mails servers as well, the e-mail servers have since been restored.

The website still remains down and this may be an attempt to limit further attacks until the problem is cleared up.

However, it has not affected industrial production at the company’s LNG production trains. A spokesman for Rasgas parent Qatar Petroleum said the group company had not been affected.

This attack comes less than two weeks after Saudi Armaco was attacked by a computer virus, which also brought down its computer network. The virus attempted to delete data off the individual computer hard drives.

In recent years industrial sabotage using sophisticated targeted computer virus’s have risen in prominence, the most famous of recent times was the Stuxnet virus, which attacked Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme.

Written by Peter Farrell.

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/31082012/rasgas-computer-network-attacked-by-virus/