Petróleos de Venezuela, the state-owned oil company of Venezuela, was reportedly the target of a cyberattack over the weekend that is said to have disrupted its export operations. The incident occurred on a Saturday morning, leading to reports of system outages affecting the company’s network.
In response to the incident, PDVSA issued a statement on Monday denying that the cyberattack had any impact on its operational areas. The company asserted that the breach was contained and limited only to some of its administrative systems. It credited the expertise of its personnel for ensuring that operational continuity was maintained and that regular activities, including the supply of products to the national market and fulfillment of all export commitments, continued through the deployment of safe protocols.
However, conflicting information emerged from internal sources. An internal memo reportedly instructed both operational and administrative staff within PDVSA to disconnect from the network and power down their computers. Furthermore, multiple sources familiar with the situation indicated that systems on the PDVSA network responsible for managing the country’s primary crude terminal remained offline as late as Monday, with one source confirming that “all systems are down” and no cargo deliveries were taking place.
GET 50% Discount for VPN/ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE AT 911Cyber - CODE: bit5025
This alleged cyberattack took place during a period of rising tensions between Venezuela and the United States. Just the week prior, U.S. authorities had seized a sanctioned oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude oil. This was the first such seizure since the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned PDVSA in January 2019.
PDVSA’s Monday statement went on to accuse the United States government and conspirators within Venezuela of orchestrating the cyberattack. The company framed the aggression as part of a public strategy by the U.S. to “seize Venezuelan oil by force and piracy” and an attempt “to undermine national stability.” PDVSA categorically rejected the action, stating it was orchestrated by foreign interests in collaboration with what it termed unpatriotic elements seeking to undermine Venezuela’s right to sovereign energy development.
Source: Cyberattack Disrupts Venezuelan Oil Giant PDVSA Operations Across The Company