European oil facilities hit by wave of cyber attacks
European oil facilities have been hit by a spate of cyber attacks that crippled oil terminal IT systems across Europe and Africa.
Two German fuel storage firms, Mabanfaft and Oiltanking, were hit by a ransomware software known as Black Cat, while SEA-Invest in Belgium and Evos in the Netherlands have also been targeted by hackers.
Dozens of terminals with oil storage and transport have been impacted, the BBC reported, with the wave of attacks coming last weekend.
Belgian prosecutors are now investigating the attacks at SEA-Invest’s terminals, which a spokeswoman for the firm said had impacted every one of their terminals in Europe and Africa.
German firm Oiltanking also said it was forced to operate at a “limited capacity” and was investigating the incident.
The hackers are thought to have links to the Russian group that attacked the Colonial Pipeline in the US last year, sparking shortages and panic buying.
The attacks come amid heightened tensions with Russia over Ukraine, with potential sanctions impacting oil supply to Russia.
But some cyber-security experts have cautioned suggesting that the multiple incidents are the result of a co-ordinated effort to disrupt the European energy sector.
Brett Callow, Threat Analyst at cyber-security company Emsisoft, told the BBC: “Some types of malware scoop up emails and contact lists and use them to automatically spam malicious attachments or links, so companies with shared connections can sometimes be hit in quick succession.”