Halliburton targeted in cyberattack

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that Halliburton, one of the largest oil field service companies in the world, was targeted in a cyberattack Wednesday, according to Reuters. Reuters reported that the attack impacted Halliburton’s North Houston campus and had impaired global operations. An employee at the North Houston campus could not confirm the alleged attack, but said the location was currently suffering from a network outage. In a statement to Reuters, the company, which maintains a headquarters in Dubai and Houston, said it was working with “leading external experts” to solve the issue.

The alleged attack came just days after the FBI released a statement warning the public of Iranian hackers’ efforts to undermine the upcoming presidential election. The FBI accused Tehran of attempting to shape the outcome of the election through various phishing attacks and other methods. This year, the World Governments Summit warned of a general increase in cyberattacks on energy companies located in the U.S. and Canada. Between 2021 and 2022, attempts to undermine the security of these companies increased by 71%, according to a report from the organization. Costs associated with cyberattacks are projected to balloon in the coming years. The WGS expects costs associated with security and damages caused by cyberattacks to multiply by more than 10 times in the coming years.