Israel’s BAZAN Group was hit by an alleged DDoS attack

BAZAN Group, one of Israel’s biggest oil refinery operators, suffered a cybercriminal attack that resulted in the inaccessibility of its websites. Based on reports, the oil refinery entity earns more than $13.5 billion in annual revenue and the home to over 1,800 employees. This company also has an oil refining capacity of about 9.8 million tons of crude oil annually.

Researchers noticed that the BAZAN group had refused incoming website traffic since two domains were timing out and displaying an HTTP 502 error. Moreover, the researchers have also confirmed that the oil refinery’s websites became inaccessible to most users worldwide.

The study showed that the affected entity attempted to mitigate the cyberattack by imposing a geo-blockchain while being accessible from within the Israeli territory.

 

A hacktivist group claimed responsibility for the cybercriminal attack against the BAZAN Group.

 

The Cyber Avengers, an Iranian hacktivist group, said on its Telegram channel that it had infiltrated the network of the BAZAN Group earlier this week.

In addition, the group additionally leaked what seemed to be screenshots of the company’s SCADA systems. The screenshots include software apps utilised to monitor and operate industrial control systems.

Furthermore, a separate researcher also noticed that the published screenshots contained the company’s Amine Regeneration system, Flare Gas Recovery Unit, PLC code, and a petrochemical Splitter Section.

However, a BAZAN Group spokesperson has dismissed the leaked materials and claimed that the actors have only fabricated their claims. On the other hand, the hacktivist group revealed that it had infiltrated the company’s network through an exploit that targets the Check Point firewall adopted by the firm.

Check Point also denied the hacktivist group’s announcement and explained that they have yet to find evidence of an attack that affected its services. Lastly, the security company stated that the actors do not have any past vulnerabilities that they could use to exploit their security systems. Cyber Avengers also claimed it is responsible for the 2021 attack at the Haifa Bay petrochemical plants that caused a widespread pipeline malfunction.