A cyber attack severely impacted the operations of German petrol distributor Oiltanking GmbH

German petrol distributor Oiltanking GmbH was a victim of a cyberattack that has a severe impact on its operations.

A cyber attack hit Oiltanking GmbH, a German petrol distributor who supplies Shell gas stations in the country, severely impacting its operations. According to the media, the attack also impacted the oil supplier Mabanaft GmbH. The two companies belong to the Marquard & Bahls group.

“The tank logistics company Oiltanking has been the victim of an attack by cybercriminals. The company confirmed this to the “ Handelsblatt ” on Monday. The attack also affected the mineral oil trader Mabanaft, like Oiltanking, a subsidiary of the Hamburg group Marquard & Bahls.” reported Spiegel.

The company supplies tens of companies in Germany with fuel, clients like Shell operate thousands of gas stations in the country. Local media reported that the attacks could have had an impact on the fuel supply in the country,

The petrol distribution is a critical infrastructure of the country, and an incident like this one could have a severe impact on the operations of the country.

“The attack does not endanger the supply of fuel, heating or combustible fuels to the Federal Republic of Germany.” the managing director of the independent tank storage association.

Experts believe that Oiltanking GmbH will spend a lot of time to fully recover the IT systems from the attack. At this time it is not clear the nature of the attack and the motivation behind it.

Below is the statement issued by the company regarding the incident:

“We are working to solve this issue according to our contingency plans, as well as to understand the full scope of the incident. We are undertaking a thorough investigation, together with external specialists and are collaborating closely with the relevant authorities. All terminals continue to operate safely.”

“Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, an operating unit within the Mabanaft Group, operates all terminals in Germany and is not part of the Oiltanking GmbH Group. Oiltanking GmbH Group continues to operate all terminals in all global markets. Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG terminals are operating with limited capacity and have declared force majeure. Mabanaft Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG has also declared force majeure for the majority of its inland supply activities in Germany. All parties continue to work to restore operations to normal in all our terminals as soon as possible.”

A few days ago, the Bun­des­amt für Ver­fas­sungs­schutz (BfV) federal domestic intelligence agency warned of ongoing attacks coordinated by the China-linked APT27 group.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Oiltanking GmbH)

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