An Unknown Hacker Group Claims That It Shut Down the World's Largest Oil Company

Shamoon discussion here in related thread

I see that Symantic is also calling this a copycat. I don't know if it truly is a modified version of Flame or something different altogether as this new virus .

Both contain a file called Wiper. But the coding is different. Flame stole info and sent it back to C&C. This virus doesn't steal any info other than the names and numbers of files deleted and the IP address of the infected computers.

Except this time, it's not coming from the government.

This new virus, sometimes referred to as Shamoon, sometimes referred to as Disttrack, contains a file named Wiper, which the Flame virus also has. But the Wiper file in Shamoon doesn't share the same code as the one in Flame, which is why experts suspect a copycat is at work. Specifically, Kaspersky believes it's the doing of script kiddies. Shamoon, like Flame, reportedly collects data on any machine it infects, then proceeds to erase the disk. But taking things one step further, the virus then overwrites the disk with a fragment of a JPEG file, making it nearly impossible to recover the lost data.

Read more here

Again, I have to wonder who benefits.

I will be waiting for news after this weekend.

Another thought that I had after using the search to find the shamoon thread.....

I bring you An earlier thread started by the OP entitled Anonymous has the bomb

That might explain the "skiddie" angle but I find it out of char of Anonymous which usually DDOSes or steals info and defaces machines instead of destroying the system by overwriting data.

I wonder if any environmental damage was caused as a result of this computer crash. A lot of these oil and gas lines need to be properly controlled to ensure safety and containment.

Perhaps some unintended complications will develop as a result of this action

Originally posted by jaws1975

I see this as possibly an inside job, A perfect reason to jack up the prices of oil again. Why would hackers shut down an oil company, when ultimately we are the ones who will pay for it?

It takes a mind capable of foresight to understand that in order to fix the mess our Elites have created for us, we must all trudge through the mud. There is no way to uproot the evils of society without disrupting what we all know as day-to-day life. That is what scares all of you into the corner of subjugation.

This hack is a good thing, for the betterment of our species. When society starts siding with the Elites because the hackers are trying to dismantle the "axis of evil", we have a problem. Who do you side with?

Originally posted by th3onetruth

Yea this could be the push Man needed to finally start looking for healthier and greener fuels.

If we even survive the chaos an oil disruption would bring. I'm guessing most people wouldn't. The effect of food not being delivered, distributed. Supplies and transportation sitting idle for even a couple days would spell disaster. Oil is what runs this planet and without it, things will collapse very quickly. That's what makes this scenario so scary.

Best be prepared ahead of time, that's all you can do.

I find it interesting they say they will do it again tomorow.

http:///WKSk3pmp

23 aug 2012 /SHN/AMOO

According to media which we rarely believe, Saudi Aramco is thinking that the 15 aug attack was done by us but with a man in the middle helping us with different kind of info and that's the reason why the head management of Aramco is still investigating.. Garbage investigation.

What we're going to do to prove our ability to do more? well, we don't really need or even feel like proving anything to anyone and show them that we can, but here is a headline story:

we are going to make it, next week, once again, and you will not be able by 1% to stop us.

Date: 25 august 2012
Time: 21:00 GMT

That's will happen for two reason:
1- you're brutal and selfish to harm any employee just for the sake of expecting.
2- we do hate, hate a lot, arrogance.

Be prepared for something you will see in your eyes and you will not be able to stop it.

Originally posted by JackBauer

Originally posted by th3onetruth

Yea this could be the push Man needed to finally start looking for healthier and greener fuels.

If we even survive the chaos an oil disruption would bring. I'm guessing most people wouldn't. The effect of food not being delivered, distributed. Supplies and transportation sitting idle for even a couple days would spell disaster. Oil is what runs this planet and without it, things will collapse very quickly. That's what makes this scenario so scary.

Best be prepared ahead of time, that's all you can do.

edit on 8/24/2012 by JackBauer because: (no reason given)

Sadly,the quoted post is very true,
It could very well disrupt many oil dependent societies.this cyber attack has the attributes of being pre planned by an organised force.
It could be the payback which was threatened by Iran over the recent flame virus..

This is bologney...
EVERYONE knows that if you are going to wreck stuff..you don't sign your name to it.

Its the American Gov. .or Chinese gov.... oh look we slightly modified Flame... Make Hacker flypaper group with lame name...

Seriously.. Sword of Justice... What kinda 4chan kids do you know that are gonna be all..Yeah I'm Sword of Justice.... I am leaning towards NSA on this one....


Just sounds so cheeseball...

That can't be true.
Who would pay for that.
Thats a cover from hacking Tesla sites.
If not they will be caught because the CIA know who done it in all likely hood.
Tesla hackers are most likely protected big time.

Originally posted by fluff007
wow

that is some attack, and i truly hope these hackers know how to cover their tracks....
got my fingers crossed for them

s+f OP

If they are smart they won't stay in the same place. They'll be in another country by now.

I applaud them. Oil should be a thing of the past by now, not to mention the greedy oil companies.

Whoever/whatever did this so far has achieved two things, other than the obvious headline:

1. You, or anybody who has read the story, has been placed in a state of fear/concern

2. Your attention has been caught.

You don't know what will happen any day, not even after reading news reports or claims.

Personally I believe that a tractable person should be kept between a state of action and frustration, never really reforming what they apparently become frustrated about. Will you agree that you're like this every time some story like this with it's possible implications comes your way on this website? It is as though you benefit from knowing what comes next so you will not have to live the way you do now, thus you read awaiting the change, unfortunately can you say for certain you know what will happen next? Have you ever known?

I am not demanding that you must act now. I have offered my view- that you may see it, and if it's useful to you then do what you will with it.

This makes no sense. Small time hackers have zero invested in these oil big oil companies. There is no connection between them and big Oil other than the consumer end.

It would make more sense if these small time guys actually had a motive to wipe out Saudi Aramco Oil ledgers.

reply to post by purplemer

“Cutting Sword of Justice”

Honestly? That's their name? And they used a variant of Flame? My spidey senses are tingling. It was a Government hacker cell. Why else would they target a Saudi "Government-owned" oil company. Western Governments created Stuxnet and Flame in the first place to sabotage middle eastern nuclear facilities and corporate computer networks such as those used by oil companies.

Originally posted by TheMindWar
So the Cyberwars against the corporations really begins.

Even when the Bits blog mentions that "The Saudi Aramco attack would be the first significant use of malware in a so-called hacktivist attack -- --" (emphasis my own) the real reason might be -- with some probability value -- to lure those, who have atleast once imagined doing something similar to step on to the next level.

If there is x amount of those, who have already tried their script-kiddie -skills (Kaspersky: "It is more likely that [Shamoon] is a copycat, the work of a script kiddies inspired by the [earlier] story"), there are lots of more of those, who yet havent't tried such, but would be willing to do so.

Recall the volcanic ash (originated from the Iceland) that forced 4000 flights to be canceled in the Europe. Highly probably there were lots of companies, who partially halted, because their employees couldn't fly to their destinations in schedule. Recovering took some time and eventually situation returned to normal, but many kinds of disruptions occurred in multiple countries.

Yet it can not be seen clearly, but what if suddenly there are lots and lots of script kiddies with their easy-to-use malware etc., who actually can bring down lots of companies (no more just some silly DDos-attacks)? Such need to happen only once and after that it will be remembered for a long time. Question is: who would benefit from such?

reply to post by Xaphan


Do you have any viable alternatives to oil at this point? (and I mean viable, not just environmental rhetoric) Oil is the lifeblood of our lives, like it or not. Any massive disruption of oil would mean a great deal of pain for all of us.

Can't wait till these hackers start to attack our electrical grid.

This, after reading some replies, reminded me of a something the Joker said in 'The Dark Knight'

" I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmmm? You know... You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan". But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!
Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair! "

Maybe it won't be noticed at all or maybe this will have big consequences. Whatever it is, if these guys are for real they have my support .

What the hell. With a name like ' Sword of Justice ' id put them all behind bars for the rest of their life, dumbest name i have ever heard of.

They better hope they don't get extradited to Saudi, they will probably chop their hands off and put them in prison for the rest of their days. Literally.

Killing them is Mercy.

---

Nah, knowing the US, we will make them work for us.

Well, I don't know if this particular event is good or bad...

but honestly, it's nice to see one of these cyber-attacks being substantial. That's awesome! I hope this trend keeps up...let's really # up the major corporations and governments...

Oh great, another group that doesnt know what they r pissed off about has decided to carry out an attack with the hopes of what? Higher gas prices? Higher shipping costs? Higher flying costs? Higher fertilizer costs for already high priced foods like corn? And in the end even more revenue for the people whom you seem to dislike.
Cant you guys think this through a little better next time? (and please dont mess with my computer as I am just voicing an opinion) Oh, and go to bed! It has to be past ur bedtime and tomorrow is a school nite!

And by the way, the Saudi's are not our problem. If anything they have helped us keep gas prices down and fuel and oil affordable by accepting dollars for payment of oil years ago.