A ransomware attack on Halliburton resulted in the loss of $35M

Halliburton, a global producer of energy goods and services, revealed that the August ransomware attack resulted in losing $35 million.

The incident occurred after unauthorised individuals forced the company to shut down its systems and disconnect customers. Halliburton is a global producer of energy goods and services, providing various solutions for oil and gas reservoirs, including exploration, development, and production.

The corporation currently operates various sites in 70 countries and is home to more than 48,000 individuals. The attackers may have targeted this entity because its reported revenue is over $23.02 billion.

In a recent filing to the United States government, the corporation explained that an unauthorised third party had accessed its systems, which led to the alleged compromise. However, after discovering the breach, the affected entity insisted it shut down some parts of the compromised IT infrastructure. Hence, the company claimed the attack caused minimal operational disruption and client system disconnections.

 

The RansomHub ransomware campaign claimed responsibility for the attack on Halliburton.

 

An investigation of the incident revealed that the RansomHub ransomware group was the perpetrator of the attack on Halliburton.

A subsequent 8-K Form filing revealed that the threat actors had stolen data from the company’s network. However, the nature and scope of the data breach are still a mystery. Halliburton claimed that the incident was unlikely to impact its financials at the time substantially, and its third quarter 2024 earnings release validates this assessment.

Furthermore, the company’s CEO stated that the August cybersecurity event and Gulf of Mexico storms had a $0.02 per share impact on adjusted results from missed or delayed revenue. It also explained that the company’s full-year forecasts for free cash flow and cash return to shareholders remain uncompromised.

Although the expense of countering the infection is relatively low for a firm of Halliburton’s size, given its total sales and profitability, it is unclear what data the RansomHub ransomware group stole.

Hence, if the ransomware group retains and potentially sells or leaks data that exposes Halliburton clients, it may significantly impact the company financially.