Saudi Aramco restores all network services

Saudi Aramco has restored all its main internal network services that were impacted 10 days ago by a malicious virus that originated from “external sources” and affected about 30,000 workstations.
“We addressed the threat immediately, and our precautionary procedures, which have been in place to counter such threats, and our multiple protective systems, have helped to mitigate these deplorable cyber threats from spiraling,” said Khalid A. Al-Falih, president and CEO, Saudi Aramco.
All the affected workstations have been cleaned and restored to service, the oil giant said in a statement last night. As a precaution, remote Internet access to online resources was restricted. Saudi Aramco employees, who returned to work on Saturday, following the Eid holidays, resumed normal business.
The company confirmed that its primary enterprise systems of hydrocarbon exploration and production were unaffected as they operate on isolated network systems. Production plants were also fully operational as these control systems are also isolated.
“Saudi Aramco is not the only company that became a target for such attempts, and this was not the first nor will it be the last illegal attempt to intrude into our systems,” said Al-Falih. “We will ensure that we will further reinforce our systems with all available means to protect against a recurrence of this type of cyber-attack.”
Al-Falih confirmed that exploration, producing, exports, sales, distribution operations, and financial and human resources systems, and databases were intact as they functioned on isolated systems.
“We would like to emphasize and assure our stakeholders, customers and partners that our core businesses of oil and gas exploration, production and distribution from the wellhead to the distribution network were unaffected and are functioning as reliably as ever,” he said.
“There is no doubt whatsoever about Saudi Aramco meeting its commitments to its customers worldwide.”
Al-Falih added that the company continues to investigate the causes of the incident and those responsible for it.