Volume 7 , Issue 1 , PP: 13-21, 2021 | Cite this article as | XML | Html | PDF | Full Length Article
Mohammed. I.alghamdi 1 *
Doi: https://doi.org/10.54216/JCIM.070102
Saudi Aramco is the world’s leading oil producer based in Saudi Arabia. Around 1/10th of oil is exported from this organization to the world. Oil production is the major source of revenue for Saudi Arabia and its economy relies completely on it. The Shamoon virus attacked Saudi Aramco in August 2012. The country receives over 80% to 90% of total revenues from the exports of oil and contributes over 40% of the GDP [8]. Shamoon spread from the company's network and removed all of the hard drives. The company was limited only to office workstations and the software was not affected by the virus, due to which all technical operations could have been affected. It was the most disastrous cyber attack in the history of Saudi Arabia. Around 30,000 workstations had been infected by the virus. This paper also discusses the effects of Ransomware which recently attacked Aramco. Apart from that, we will also discuss some suggestions and security measures to prevent those attacks.
Saudi Aramco, oil production, cyber attack, cyber threat, Ransomware, Shamoon, workstations, security measures
1. BBC (2021). Hackers reportedly demand $50m from Saudi Aramco over data leak. Retrieved 2 August 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57924355
2. Bronk, C., & Tikk-Ringas, E. (2013a). The Cyber Attack on Saudi Aramco. Survival, 55(2), 81–96. doi:10.1080/00396338.2013.784468
3. Roberts, J. (2012). Cyber threats to energy security, as experienced by Saudi Arabia. Platts, November, 27.
4. Tuttle, R. (2012). Virus Shuts RasGas Office Computers, LNG Output Unaffected. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-08-30/virus-shuts-rasgas-office-computers-lng-output-unaffected-1-.
5. Shifrinson, J. R. I., & Priebe, M. (2011). A crude threat: The limits of an Iranian missile campaign against Saudi Arabian oil. International Security, 36(1), 167-201.
6. Andrew, J. (2014). Cybersecurity and Stability in the Gulf. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved from: https://csis.org/files/publication/140106_Lewis_GulfCybersecurity_Web_0.pdf
7. Holden, (2012), “Cyber Attacks in the Spin Cycle: Saudi Aramco and Shamoon”. Available online at: http://analysisintelligence.com/cyber-defense/narrative-of-a-cyber-attack-saudi-aramco-andshamoon/.
8. Rid, T. (2013). Cyber war will not take place. Oxford University Press, USA.
9. Bronk, C., & Tikk-Ringas, E. (2013b). Hack or attack? Shamoon and the Evolution of Cyber Conflict.
10. Alshathry, S. (2016). Cyber-attack on saudi aramco. International Journal of Management, 11(5).
11. Dehlawi, Z., & Abokhodair, N. (2013). Saudi Arabia's response to cyber conflict: A case study of the Shamoon malware incident. In 2013 IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics (pp. 73-75). IEEE.
12. Alelyani, S., & Kumar, H. (2018). Overview of cyberattack on saudi organizations.
13. Basamh, S. S., Qudaih, H., & Ibrahim, J. B. (2014). An overview on cyber security awareness in Muslim countries. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research.
14. Basamh, S. S., Qudaih, H., & Ibrahim, J. B. (2014). An overview on cyber security awareness in Muslim countries. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research.
15. NY Times (2009). Text: Obama’s Remarks on Cyber-Security. Retrieved 3 August 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/us/politics/29obama.text.html
16. Adebayo, O. S., Mabayoje, M. A., Mishra, A., & Osho, O. (2012). Malware detection, supportive software agents and its classification schemes.
17. Baezner, M. (2017). Patrice Robin Stuxnet Center for Security Studies (CSS). ETH Zrich.
18. Zetter, K. (2015). Kaspersky Finds New Nation-State Attack-in Its Own Network. The Wired. Available at - https://www.wired.com/2015/06/kaspersky-finds-new-nation-state-attack-network/.
19. Pattar, T. (2013). Cyber Attacks in the Middle East.
20. Moubarak, J., Chamoun, M., & Filiol, E. (2017). Comparative study of recent mea malware phylogeny. In 2017 2nd International Conference on Computer and Communication Systems (ICCCS) (pp. 16-20). IEEE.
21. Perlroth, N. (2012). Connecting the Dots after Cyber attack on Saudi Aramco. New York Times. Available at - http:// bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/ connecting-the-dots-after-cyber attack-on-saudi-aramco/.
22. Digital Dao (2012). Was Iran Responsible for Saudi Aramco’s Network Attack?. Available at http://jeffreycarr.blogspot.com/2012/08/was-iran-responsible-for-saudi-aramcos.html.
23. Joint Security Awareness Report: JSAR-12-241-01—Shamoon/DistTrack Malware’, Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, 29 August 2012. Available at https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ics/jsar/JSAR-12-241-01B.
24. ‘Shamoon, a Two-stage Targeted Attack’, Seculert Blog, 16 August 2012, http://blog.seculert.com/2012/08/shamoon-two-stage-targeted-attack.html.
25. Tarakanov, D. (2012). Shamoon The Wiper: Further Details (Part II). Retrieved 4 August 2021, from https://securelist.com/shamoon-the-wiper-further-details-part-ii/57784/
26. Gupta, A. (2016). Samas Changes the Way a Ransomware Operates. TWCN Tech News. Retrieved at - https://news.thewindowsclub.com/samas-ransomware-changes-way-ransomware-operates-82755/.
27. Ivanov, A. & Mamedov, O. (2017). The return of Mamba ransomware. Retrieved 4 August 2021, from https://securelist.com/the-return-of-mamba-ransomware/79403/.
28. Kharraz, A., Robertson, W., Balzarotti, D., Bilge, L., & Kirda, E. (2015). Cutting the gordian knot: A look under the hood of ransomware attacks. In International Conference on Detection of Intrusions and Malware, and Vulnerability Assessment (pp. 3-24). Springer, Cham.
29. Paul, G. & Shaunak (2017). Detailed threat analysis of Shamoon 2.0 Malware - VinRansomware. Retrieved 4 August 2021, from https://www.vinransomware.com/blog/detailed-threat-analysis-of-shamoon-2-0-malware.