KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): At least 35 major cyberattacks on energy and oil infrastructure have taken place since 2017, according to S&P Global Platts.

In its Oil Security Sentinel research released last Friday (Feb 18), S&P Global Platts said the US is the most targeted country, followed by the UK and Saudi Arabia.

It said high-profile cyberattacks had occurred in the past year alone, highlighting the major ransomware attack on the computer network of the key fuel pipeline of the US East Coast, namely the Colonial Pipeline.

The cyberattack and the ensuing shutdown of the pipeline resulted in fuel shortages, a run to gas stations and a spike in US gasoline prices.

The report said Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, also suffered an attack in the summer of 2021.

The state oil giant of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, suffered a data breach in which cyberattackers stole one terabyte of proprietary data and were selling it on the dark web.

The Aramco data leak was the subject of a ransom demand of US$50 million (about RM209.3 million) in cryptocurrency.