Saudi Arabia warned organizations in the Kingdom on Monday to be on the alert for cyber attacks including a version of the destructive Shamoon virus, as a chemicals firm reported a network disruption and the Ministry of Labor and Social Development said it had been attacked. An alert from the telecoms authority advised all parties to be vigilant for attacks from the Shamoon 2 variant of the virus that in 2012 crippled of tens thousands of computers at oil giant Saudi Aramco. The labor ministry, meanwhile, said it had been hit by a cyber attack, but that it did not impact its data. It said that Human Resource Development Fund (Hadaf) had also been hit, but with little impact. Jubail-based Sadara Chemical Co, a joint venture firm owned by Saudi Aramco and U.S. company Dow Chemical, said it had experienced a network disruption on Monday morning and was working to resolve the issue. The company made the disclosure on its official Twitter account after the warning by Al Ekhbariya TV, which cited the telecoms authority. It did not say whether the disruption was due to a cyber attack but said as a precautionary measure it had stopped all services related to the network. Other companies in Jubail, the hub of the Saudi petrochemicals industry, also experienced network disruptions, according to sources.
