Cybersecurity

Middle East Servers Targeted in Cyberattack Against Saipem

The Italian oil-services company is still assessing the scope and impact of a cyberattack that targeted its servers in the Middle East, according to the company’s head of digital and innovation.

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The Italian oil-services company Saipem is still assessing the scope and impact of a cyberattack that targeted its servers in the Middle East, according to the company’s head of digital and innovation.

“We’re keeping the servers down to understand what happened,” Mauro Piasere said by phone. "We are working to back them up as soon as possible, as of today, we have no evidence data was stolen."

A spokesman for the Milan-based company said on 11 December that about 400 servers were hit during a cyberattack made public on 10 December. The origins and causes of the attack remain unclear, he said.

Piasere said servers in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were hit the hardest, while the only attack in Europe was in Aberdeen, Scotland, where the company employs fewer than 30 people.

It’s still unclear where the attack originated or who was behind it, Piasere said.

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