A recent malware attack on the computer network of a Saudi Arabian oil company, Saudi Aramco, has forced the entity to temporarily shut down its entire network; but luckily, this did not affect the oil production.

While the attacking malware could not be identified, the company confirmed the integrity of its entire electronic network that manages its core business and denied any impact on its production operations.

“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,” Saudi Aramco explains in a statement on its Facebook page. “The disruption was suspected to be the result of a virus that had infected personal workstations without affecting the primary components of the network. 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,” it added.

Malware attacks, these days, have become quite progressive in nature, and are targeting everything possible. Even in United States, a series of attacks was conducted on the critical infrastructure of the country since last year, such as a water plant in Texas disconnected its control system from the Internet after a hacker posted pictures of the facility’s internal controls, hackers penetrated the networks of companies that operated country’s natural-gas pipelines, and increased attacks on the nuclear and chemical industries.

Not forgetting the Stuxnet worm, jointly produced by the United States and Israel in an attempt to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program. It is quite evident that governments are playing the hacking game, too. Though the malware attack on Saudi Aramco may not be some sponsored attack plan, but the thing that matters is that it happened, outraging the company’s cyber security programs.