In the recent past, Middle Eastern companies are becoming a frequent target of attackers. Malware attack at the Saudi Aramco oil company is the latest in these series. News sources confirms that a malware infection at Saudi Aramco user workstations; however, the core production network is said to be not affected with this attack.

.The disruption was suspected to be the result of a virus that had infected personal workstations without affecting the primary components of the network.. as per company statement

As an immediate incident response, the networks are isolated. .On Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, an official at Saudi Aramco confirmed that the company has isolated all its electronic systems from outside access as an early precautionary measure that was taken following a sudden disruption that affected some of the sectors of its electronic network,. the company wrote in its statement.

.Saudi Aramco confirmed the integrity of all of its electronic network that manages its core business and that the interruption has had no impact whatsoever on any of the company.s production operations,. the statement said.

.The company employs a series of precautionary procedures and multiple redundant systems within its advanced and complex system that are used to protect its operational and database systems."

The attack vector is yet to be disclosed by the authorities as well as the malware details.

It is high time for the countries in GCC to form a protection and information sharing network to have better coordination and response.