PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (PET1765893364)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. breach identified under incident ID PET1765893364.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.'s information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/petroleosdevenezuela, the number of followers: 129470, the industry type: Oil and Gas and the number of employees: 25708 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 760 and after the incident was 742 with a difference of -18 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. and their customers.

On 06 January 2025, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) disclosed Cyberattack issues under the banner "Cyberattack on PDVSA Disrupts Key Administrative Systems".

Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), is struggling to restore key administrative systems after a cyberattack over the weekend.

The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting Administrative networks managing export and import data at Jose crude terminal, and exposing Possibility of information compromise (not confirmed).

In response, teams activated the incident response plan, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like Shutdown of computers, disconnection of external hardware, WiFi and Starlink cutoffs, reinforced security at facilities, while recovery efforts such as Ongoing restoration efforts continue, and stakeholders are being briefed through Internal memo to staff, public statement describing the incident as a 'sabotage attempt'.

The case underscores how Ongoing, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering Internal memo instructing personnel not to restart or use devices without guidance.

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating breach targeted networks managing export and import data at Jose crude terminal and Trusted Relationship (T1199) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating years of deferred maintenance and loss of critical software licenses due to US sanctions. Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Service Stop (T1489) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including crippled critical administrative systems, and delayed scheduled loadings and Data Manipulation: Stored Data Manipulation (T1565.001) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including concerns over potential data compromise, and export and import data at Jose crude terminal affected. Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (T1562.001) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating instructed employees to shut down computers, disconnect external hardware and Indicator Removal: Clear Windows Event Logs (T1070.001) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating disable WiFi and Starlink connections following the attack. Under the Command and Control tactic, the analysis identified Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols (T1071.001) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating disable WiFi and Starlink connections (potential C2 channels). Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (T1041) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including data exfiltration not ruled out, and possibility of information compromise. These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.