Awareness of Current Events: Saudi Aramco Attack - Case Study Example

WАRЕNЕSS ОF СURRЕNT ЕVЕNTS By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Saudi Aramco Attack Introduction When it was formed, the Internet was initiated as a confidential martial test, but today it is an extensively employed means that has an enormous amount of functions. Modern cyber attacks on Saudi Aramco, denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on numerous major U.S. based banks and the RasGas Qatari based gas firm. Provides clear validation that the combat zone is changing to a linear front from a three-dimensional, and this propensity may as well cause largely a radical shift of warfare principles (Mahdi, 2012). Regardless of the apparent development of life values, which this hi-tech revolution came with, the enormous reliance on computers might open a novel page of warfare conduct. This is for the reason that the global law is vulnerable to restraints compelled prior to the arrival of cyber attacks, which is one of the most substantial quandaries at the moment. Cyber attack is a threat posed by unreliable or criminal actions of computer users manipulating the widespread utilisation of computer networks. Cyber attack use malevolent code to modify computer logic data, or code causing unruly outcomes that can compromise information and steer cybercrimes, like information theft (Reuters, 2012). In addition, it poses a serious threat to the security, integrity and quality of enterprise data systems; thus, makes the establishment of efficient security methods as a top preference. Arguably, most computer crimes entail criminal activities that are custom in nature such as defamation, forgery, fraud, and mischief. Crimes that fundamentally target computer devices or network include computer virus, malicious and malware code, and denial-of-service attacks. Case Study: Saudi Aramco attack A virus recognized as Shamoon was deployed to Saudi Aramco in August 2012, infected workstations, deleting almost 75% of hard drive data of company computers at Aramco, the world’s leading oil and gas producers. In essence, users searching for a manuscript or worksheet rather found a burning image of American flag (Leyden, 2012). The virus, named after a phrase in its code, was intended to overwrite vital files with a burning image of an American flag. The researchers investigating the attack found out instructions in Shamoon’s code, what is recognized as a “kill timer.” Luckily, the attack influenced just the corporate internal network on more than 30,000 computers and not the systems that administer production of oil. Cyber attack experts held the view that the attack trail of the Saudi Aramco cyber-attack obviously pointed to managerial and confidential accounts as the precedence aim for assailants wanted to permeate and damage vital infrastructure. Essentially, the Shamoon virus spread through the corporate network and wiped PCs hard drives spotless. However, Saudi Aramco alleged that the damage was restricted to administrative center PCs and did not influence systems software that could have damaged technical processes. Afterwards, hackers calling themselves “Cutting Sword of Justice" confirmed their accountability for the attack, claiming that their purposes were politically motivated and that the virus helped them gain access to manuscripts from Aramco's PCs, which they threatened to make public (Infosecurity, 2012). However, to date no documents have been published even after posting an official statement on the online board on the very day the files were wiped, blaming Saudi Arabia for "felonies and mayhem" in numerous countries, including Bahrain and Syria. Soon after Aramco endured cyber attack, Symantec, the world’s leading Internet security companies discovered a novel form of virus which was attacking a international energy company, but did not purposely name Aramco. Symantec described the virus as a “disparaging malware that damages files on a compromised PC and overwrites the Master Boot Record (MBR) in an attempt to make a PC impracticable (Fergusson, 2012). Arguably, US intelligence bureaucrats had broached the assail on Iran, with Leon E. Panetta one time Secretary of Defence raising a fantasm of a treacherous, cyber ware provoking, infrastructure closure in a “cyber Pearl Harbor” if the globe fails to pursue the caveat shot severely (Infosecurity, 2012). Aramco management held the opinion that the attack was aimed at the company production, bearing in mind the fact that Aramco supplies 10% of the world’s total oil. Yet, the attackers were unsuccessful to disrupt production, but it remained to be one of the most disparaging hacker strikes against one company. According to Aramco’s vice president for corporate planning, the key objective in this attack was to halt the oil and gas flow to domestic and global markets. Debatably, internal ministry spokesperson posited that the attack was targeted on Saudi economy, bearing in mind that Saudi Arabia's economy is profoundly reliant on oil. Statistically, export incomes from oil account an estimated 80 to 90 percent of total Saudi incomes and higher than 40 percent of the country's GDP. The hackers claimed that they let loose a malignant virus into Saudi Aramco Company, in vengeance for what they claimed was the regime’s brace for “tyrannical events” in the Middle East. Furthermore, the hackers proved they had damage over 75% of Aramco’s workstations by posting blocks of what they alleged were the tainted I.P. addresses on Pastebin, which is a Web site frequently employed by hackers to post information from cyber attacks (Reed, 2013). Technically, Shamoon commands compromised PCs to account their contagion back to a single I.P. address. Symantec’s researchers noted that the I.P. address belongs to a PC in the equivalent network as other compromised PCs, but not linked to the Internet. In this regard, it was uncertain how that PC had been primarily tainted and the fact that it was had no Internet connection lends credibility to rumors that the attack may have been made possible by a Saudi Aramco worker (Infosecurity, 2012). In this regard, the Saudi Aramco attack turned out to be the foremost noteworthy application of malware in a purported hacktivist assails, wherein hackers aim a corporation for protest reasons instead for earnings. Previously, hacktivists employed application or disseminated denial of service (DDoS) assails wherein they congest a Website with traffic till it plunges offline. According to Fergusson (2012), hacktivists hardly ever employ malware; thus the fact that Aramco’s hackers employed malware is a skittish trend and if any other hacktivists uses this it could be extremely treacherous. Fergusson (2012) further notes that the attack underlined the vanity of the antivirus resolutions that are invented to guard computer systems against malware attacks hence, antivirus is a remnant of the times of yore. Reed (2013) argues that the utilization of malware activated numerous speculations on the Internet that the authentic perpetrator behind the Saudi Aramco assail was Iran. In the previous years, it became extremely trendy to distinguish the U.S., Chinese, and Israeli administrations for cyber-warfare, but this occasion (Aramco) it was hacktivists operational for a prejudiced and social reason. In essence, a group of hacktivists with numerous extremely decisive hackers and developers attained outcomes comparable to what we have purportedly observed governments achieve (Infosecurity, 2012). The company tackled the threat instantly, and their defensive practices, which were enacted to respond to such threats as well as their manifold defensive systems, assisted Aramco to alleviate these terrible cyber threats from strengthening (Reed, 2013). Furthermore, Saudi Aramco has pledged to further strengthen its protection, which is shrewd, given that a sole virus managed to taint so many of its computers. In this regard, the management has vowed to ensure that they further add force to their systems with all accessible way to defend against a repetition of such cyber-attack. What’s more, Saudi Aramco blocked all remote access and isolated all electronic systems from external access as a premature defensive measure that was in use subsequent to an unexpected interruption that influenced some of the sectors’ electronic network. However, the risk is still there since the hacktivist group behind the Saudi Aramco attack have vowed to persist their assails against other companies like Saudi Aramco who they feel are tyrannical to bordering nations. Recommendations Saudi Aramco can use Cyber War games to prevent themselves from future cyber attacks, and the approach simulates an actual business scenario, which entails actual participants, and can assist organizations speckle technical susceptibility while attaining priceless perception based on how the Saudi Aramco managers will react. Cyber war games approach generates intuition; based on security susceptibility and data assets, whereby cyber attackers can manipulate, and defects that surpass the company ability to react on the attack. Besides that, the critical examination needed to design pertinent war games scenarios, expedites debate amid business and security administrators concerning responsibility and information assets types vital in attack implications. In addition, war games strategy is productive since it makes the organization ready to secure against an aimed cyber attack, and comprehend the real effect of an attack when it transpires. Consequently, the strategy recognizes and forecast cyber attacks mechanisms and targets; however, it requires intelligence on the developing threat platform connected with definite intellect to the organization. Arguably, some reports suggest that the attack was launched by Saudi Aramco worker; thus, the management should design defense controls that function in a coupled structure that manipulates computer-established connection to increase human analysis. This can be achieved by connecting controls across networks, endpoints, and information. References Read More

Soon after Aramco endured cyber attack, Symantec, the world’s leading Internet security companies discovered a novel form of virus which was attacking a international energy company, but did not purposely name Aramco. Symantec described the virus as a “disparaging malware that damages files on a compromised PC and overwrites the Master Boot Record (MBR) in an attempt to make a PC impracticable (Fergusson, 2012). Arguably, US intelligence bureaucrats had broached the assail on Iran, with Leon E.

Panetta one time Secretary of Defence raising a fantasm of a treacherous, cyber ware provoking, infrastructure closure in a “cyber Pearl Harbor” if the globe fails to pursue the caveat shot severely (Infosecurity, 2012). Aramco management held the opinion that the attack was aimed at the company production, bearing in mind the fact that Aramco supplies 10% of the world’s total oil. Yet, the attackers were unsuccessful to disrupt production, but it remained to be one of the most disparaging hacker strikes against one company.

According to Aramco’s vice president for corporate planning, the key objective in this attack was to halt the oil and gas flow to domestic and global markets. Debatably, internal ministry spokesperson posited that the attack was targeted on Saudi economy, bearing in mind that Saudi Arabia's economy is profoundly reliant on oil. Statistically, export incomes from oil account an estimated 80 to 90 percent of total Saudi incomes and higher than 40 percent of the country's GDP. The hackers claimed that they let loose a malignant virus into Saudi Aramco Company, in vengeance for what they claimed was the regime’s brace for “tyrannical events” in the Middle East.

Furthermore, the hackers proved they had damage over 75% of Aramco’s workstations by posting blocks of what they alleged were the tainted I.P. addresses on Pastebin, which is a Web site frequently employed by hackers to post information from cyber attacks (Reed, 2013). Technically, Shamoon commands compromised PCs to account their contagion back to a single I.P. address. Symantec’s researchers noted that the I.P. address belongs to a PC in the equivalent network as other compromised PCs, but not linked to the Internet.

In this regard, it was uncertain how that PC had been primarily tainted and the fact that it was had no Internet connection lends credibility to rumors that the attack may have been made possible by a Saudi Aramco worker (Infosecurity, 2012). In this regard, the Saudi Aramco attack turned out to be the foremost noteworthy application of malware in a purported hacktivist assails, wherein hackers aim a corporation for protest reasons instead for earnings. Previously, hacktivists employed application or disseminated denial of service (DDoS) assails wherein they congest a Website with traffic till it plunges offline.

According to Fergusson (2012), hacktivists hardly ever employ malware; thus the fact that Aramco’s hackers employed malware is a skittish trend and if any other hacktivists uses this it could be extremely treacherous. Fergusson (2012) further notes that the attack underlined the vanity of the antivirus resolutions that are invented to guard computer systems against malware attacks hence, antivirus is a remnant of the times of yore. Reed (2013) argues that the utilization of malware activated numerous speculations on the Internet that the authentic perpetrator behind the Saudi Aramco assail was Iran.

In the previous years, it became extremely trendy to distinguish the U.S., Chinese, and Israeli administrations for cyber-warfare, but this occasion (Aramco) it was hacktivists operational for a prejudiced and social reason. In essence, a group of hacktivists with numerous extremely decisive hackers and developers attained outcomes comparable to what we have purportedly observed governments achieve (Infosecurity, 2012). The company tackled the threat instantly, and their defensive practices, which were enacted to respond to such threats as well as their manifold defensive systems, assisted Aramco to alleviate these terrible cyber threats from strengthening (Reed, 2013).

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