Tuesday 19 March 2024
 
»
 
»
Story

Saudi targeted in cyber attack: NCSC

RIYADH, November 21, 2017

Saudi Arabia had been targeted as part of a wide-ranging cyber espionage campaign against five Middle East nations as well as several countries outside the region, a report quoting a Saudi agency said.
 
The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) of Saudi Arabia said in a statement the kingdom had been hit by a hacking campaign bearing the technical hallmarks of an attack group dubbed “MuddyWater” by US cyber firm Palo Alto Networks, said the Arab News report.
 
Palo Alto’s Unit 42 threat research unit published a report last Friday showing how a string of connected attacks this year used decoy documents with official-looking government logos to lure unsuspecting users from targeted organizations to download infected documents and compromise their computer networks.
 
The Unit 42 researchers said the attacks had targeted organizations in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, Turkey and Israel, as well as entities outside the Middle East region in Georgia, India, Pakistan and the US.
 
The Saudi security agency said in its own statement that the attacks sought to steal data from computers using email phishing techniques targeting the credentials of specific users.
 
The NCSC said they also comprised so-called “watering hole” attacks, which seek to trick users to click on infected web links to seize control of their machines, the report said.
 
The NCSC said the attacks appeared to be by an “advanced persistent threat” (APT) group — cyber jargon typically used to describe state-backed espionage.
 
The NCSC declined further comment on the source of the attack or on which organizations or agencies were targeted. 



Tags: Saudi | cyber |

More IT & Telecommunications Stories

calendarCalendar of Events

Ads