Mystery Malware Wreaks Havoc on Energy Sector Computers

Ars Technica: Security researchers have discovered a new piece of malware dubbed “Shamoon” that appears to be targeting energy sector companies and wiping out critical data on their Windows PCs so that it cannot be recovered. While the targeted nature of the worm immediately led to comparisons with Flame and Stuxnet, researchers believe that Shamoon was written by a different group. “It is more likely that this is a copycat, the work of script kiddies inspired by the story,” said security vendor Kaspersky Lab.

Researchers from Symantec said that “at least one organization in the energy sector” had been hit by the malware, but they did not name the company. However, Bloomberg News reported that Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest crude exporter, was recently the victim of a cyberattack.

Shamoon can spread from system to system, but experts say that so far it has infected fewer than 50 PCs.