Cyberattack targets Iranian oil sector

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TEHRAN, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Iranian computer networks were set up in such a way as to deter a cyberattack targeting oil installations, an executive said.

Mohammad Reza Golshani, technology director at the National Iranian Offshore Oil Co., said the company was the target of a cyberattack he said was launched by an Israeli source.

"Fortunately, due to the separation of the Internet network from our intranet network, the company remained safe," he told the Iranian Students' News Agency.

He said his company's computer networks were secured and no information was stolen, though phone service between onshore and offshore facilities may be disrupted.

F-Secure Security Labs, a company monitoring spyware, reported in July that computer systems at Iran's Natanz and Fordo nuclear facilities were compromised by a computer worm that programmed computers to play a song by rock band AC/DC.

The Stuxnet computer virus disrupted more than 10 percent of Iranian nuclear centrifuges and the Iranian National Computer Emergency Response Team recently distributed software to protect against a type of malware dubbed Flame.

The U.S. and Israeli governments have been suspected in playing a role in some of the attacks.