Cyberattack against Venezuela state oil firm pinned on US

Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas firm Petroleos de Venezuela has accused the U.S. of being responsible for a cyberattack against its administrative system, which was allegedly part of its efforts to hijack the country's oil reserves as it moves to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

While PDVSA claimed that the intrusion had not impacted its operations, such an attack, believed by employees to involve ransomware, was noted by sources speaking with Reuters to have led to the disruption of its website and all its systems, leading to the suspension of oil cargo deliveries. Such an attack, which was regarded by cybersecurity researchers as insufficiently linked to the U.S., follows the U.S. military's seizure of a PDVSA tanker.

"This action is part of the U.S. escalation aimed at hampering Venezuela's legitimate right to freely use and trade its natural resources with other nations, including the supplies of hydrocarbons to Cuba," said a Venezuelan official.