Oiltanking GmbH, a German gasoline distributor that supplies Shell gas stations in the country, fell victim to a cyberattack that severely affected its operations.
See also: FBI: Warns of cyberattack on Beijing Olympics
Additionally, the attack also affected Mabanaft GmbH, an oil supplier. Both entities are subsidiaries of the Marquard & Bahls group, which may have been the point of the breach.
Because the company supplies a total of 26 companies in the country with fuel, German media immediately expressed concerns about shortages, but officials appeared to calm spirits.
Shell has 1,955 gas stations in the country, so if all of them ran out of fuel, a serious crisis would have been created that would have had negative effects on a number of Germany's daily operations and by extension on its national economy.
The CEO of the independent tank storage association in Germany, Frank Shaper, told Spiegel that the attack does not endanger the country's fuel supply for either heating or transportation.
See also: Puerto Rico Senate targeted by cyberattack
However, the disruption remains significant, and if the company takes too long to resolve the problems caused by the attack, the supply chain could be disrupted.
This is mainly due to the automation of the tank loading/unloading process which cannot be reverted to manual operations, as it relies entirely on electronic systems which are currently offline.
Oiltanking operates a total of 13 tank farms in Germany, and they are currently unable to service trucks. Instead, the company has resorted to using alternative charging points until the effects of the cyberattack.
Last week, the German intelligence agency, BfV, warned local companies about ongoing cyberattacks coordinated by the Chinese hacking group APT27.
See also: Canada's Foreign Ministry victim of cyberattack
Although the attack on Oiltanking has not yet been attributed to any single threat actor, it could be the work of a state actor seeking to cause large-scale disruption and economic damage.
Information source: bleepingcomputer.com
