Halliburton: Cyberattack forced us to shut down our systems

Halliburton confirmed on Friday that it had been hit by a cyberattack that forced the major oilfield services company to shut down its systems.

According to CNN, Halliburton explained in a statement that it discovered on Wednesday that “an unauthorized third party had gained access to some of its systems.”

The company added that it immediately activated its “cybersecurity response plan” and began an internal investigation with the support of external consultants to assess and address the unauthorized activity.

This response included “proactively shutting down some systems to help protect them and notifying the appropriate law enforcement authorities,” according to Halliburton.

Halliburton plays a vital role in maintaining oil and natural gas supplies, but it did not reveal the identity of the hackers or whether a ransom demand had been made.

The company explained that the investigation is “ongoing” and that the response includes restoring systems and assessing the damage.

The US Department of Energy reported on Thursday that there were no indications that energy services had been affected.

Earlier, Halliburton said only that it was experiencing an “issue,” without confirming or denying a Reuters report that the problem was related to the cyber attack.