Iranian oil ministry suffers cyber attack

The Iranian oil ministry has said its IT systems had suffered no lasting damage from a suspected cyber attack, but its experts would require two or three days to investigate and address the impact of the virus.

The virus hit the internet and communications systems of the oil ministry and national oil company late on Sunday, forcing Iran to disconnect the control systems of Kharg Island, which handles the vast majority of Iran’s crude exports, and a number of other oil facilities.

“Fortunately, because of the rapid measures taken by our experts, this ministry has sustained no damage to its computer data,” said the head of the ministry’s civil defence team Hamdullah Mohammadnejad.

He added that the source of the attack was being investigated by government experts.