A cyberattack has hit Halliburton, a significant oil companies firm within the US, elevating worries that ransomware could also be concerned. Halliburton confirmed the incident right now in a Safety and Trade Fee (SEC) submitting, a day after media shops reported that the cyberattack was affecting the corporate’s laptop programs in its Houston headquarters and at different websites. Within the submitting, Halliburton mentioned it turned conscious of the assault on Wednesday. But it surely’s unclear if the incident is tied to ransomware, which might encrypt fleets of computer systems and servers. Halliburton has launched an investigation with the assistance of third-party safety specialists. “The corporate’s response efforts included proactively taking sure programs offline to assist shield them and notifying legislation enforcement,” Halliburton added. “The corporate’s ongoing investigation and response embrace restoration of its programs and evaluation of materiality.”But it surely seems like Halliburton is within the early levels of investigating the cyberattack. Within the submitting, the corporate says it is “working to establish any results of the incident.”Halliburton did not reply to a request for remark, however on Thursday, the US Power Division instructed CNN that it had seen no indicators of the assault impacting vitality companies. Nonetheless, the incident echoes the 2021 ransomware assault on Colonial Pipeline, which halted all oil pipeline operations for six days as a precaution. The disruption briefly prompted a gas scarcity in a number of US states, triggering gasoline costs to rise. Colonial Pipeline additionally paid $4.4 million in Bitcoin to the ransomware group accountable, Darkside, in an effort to assist restore the corporate’s IT operations.
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The eye from the assault led DarkSide to disband after US authorities started cracking down on its actions. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company has since repeatedly cited the Colonial Pipeline assault because it encourages firms and authorities companies to bolster their cyber defenses to guard important infrastructure.”For too lengthy, we’ve sacrificed safety for options and pace to market, leaving us more and more susceptible,” CISA Director Jen Easterly mentioned final yr.
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About Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
I have been with PCMag since October 2017, masking a variety of matters, together with shopper electronics, cybersecurity, social media, networking, and gaming. Previous to working at PCMag, I used to be a international correspondent in Beijing for over 5 years, masking the tech scene in Asia.
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