A Cyber Attack on Europe’s major oil terminal could trigger an oil shortage in coming days and that too at the time when the entire nation was suffering to curtail the already high energy prices.
Cybersecurity Insiders have learnt that the fuel shortage is being caused because of a digital attack that has affected all the port terminals that handle oil barges. And as the shipping of these barges is delayed, fuel traders expect a surge in oil prices in coming weeks.
Interestingly, the disruption was caused during the same time when Germany’s Oiltanking Deutschland GmBH & Co. KG, the business that stores and supplies oil was hacked.
EU’s Europol has been asked to investigate the incident and the prima facie conducted revealed that the primary victim of the incident turned out to be Amsterdam- Rotterdam- Antwerp Oil Trading Hub.
According to a Belgian Police, SEA- Tank Terminal, that stores and process oil reserves to different parts of the nation were also down because of the cyber attack and highly placed sources confirm that the incident could have been triggered by ransomware spreading gang/s.
With almost whole of Europe’s critical infrastructure being hit by cyber attacks, the Dutch National Cyber Security Centre believes the attacks seem like a kind of cyber war launched by the adversary nations like China and Russia.
And with the assurance of a Russian war with Ukraine on the cards, the suspicion finger points strongly at the Vladimir Putin led nation.
