Have you ever heard of the Shamoon virus? It’s a notorious cyberattack that specifically targeted organizations in the Middle East, surfacing in 2012 and reemerging in 2016, 2017, and 2018. One of the most devastating attacks was in 2012, when Shamoon brought Saudi Aramco—one of the largest oil companies in the world—temporarily to its knees.
In 2012, Saudi Aramco was valued at $1.5 trillion, supplying roughly 12% of the world’s total oil production. However, this massive oil giant was hit hard by the Shamoon virus, affecting over 30,000 of its computer workstations and essentially shutting down its IT infrastructure.
The exact method used to breach Saudi Aramco’s systems in 2012 remains unclear. However, investigations into later Shamoon attacks suggest that emails containing malicious attachments—likely Microsoft Office files with enabled macros—played a significant role. These attachments may have communicated with the attackers’ servers, ultimately granting them remote access through a PowerShell command.
Once inside, Shamoon exploited weaknesses in the company’s network structure. According to Chris Kubecka, a cybersecurity advisor who was brought in to help with the response, Saudi Aramco had a "flat" network. This means that traffic between different parts of the network wasn’t filtered or controlled, allowing the virus to spread rapidly across critical systems like billing, email, DNS, and even operational systems.
Alarm bells were raised in one of Saudi Aramco's U.S. operations centers when a domain administrator account was found logging into 250 devices simultaneously. Unfortunately, these warnings went unheeded.
Shamoon lay dormant until Ramadan, a time when many employees were on holiday. Then, it began its attack. The virus took direct control of hard drives, bypassing Windows’ usual safeguards, and proceeded to destroy data by corrupting the master boot records (MBR) and overwriting files—rendering them unrecoverable.
In an attempt to limit the damage, Saudi Aramco made the drastic decision to disconnect from the internet entirely. While this successfully contained the virus, it also severed the company’s industrial control systems from outside monitoring, which could have caused catastrophic safety issues.
Cleaning up the attack was a herculean effort. Kubecka and her team restored the systems, but the cost was enormous. Saudi Aramco was forced to purchase thousands of new hard drives, a task made more difficult by a global hard drive shortage at the time. The company even used its fleet of private jets to secure the necessary supplies directly from manufacturers, which caused global hard drive prices to spike.
Despite the severity of the situation, Saudi Aramco remained tight-lipped about the attack until operations were restored. They feared that revealing the extent of the damage could disrupt the global oil market and destabilize economies.
For a more in-depth look at the Shamoon attack, we recommend episode 30 of the Darknet Diaries podcast, which includes an interview with Chris Kubecka, who played a key role in the response.
The Shamoon attack serves as a reminder of the importance of powerful cybersecurity measures. Here are five key lessons every organization, especially those in education, should learn:
By reflecting on incidents like Shamoon, organizations can better protect themselves against future cyber threats. Stay proactive, informed, and prepared.
Cyberattacks like Shamoon demonstrate the importance of strong cybersecurity defenses. At NIC Partners, we specialize in delivering tailored technology solutions that safeguard your organization from these constantly evolving threats. Whether you're looking to improve network security, educate staff on cyber hygiene, or implement a comprehensive incident response plan, our team of experts is here to help. Contact us today to learn how we can help.