Security News > 2022 > February > Cyberattacker hits German service station petrol terminal provider

Two companies owned by Hamburg-based company fuel group Marquard & Bahls are battling cyberattackers, with loading and unloading systems at the German arm of petrol tank terminal provider Oiltanking affected.

The company this afternoon confirmed to The Register that Oiltanking GmbH's terminals - which provide Shell service stations, among others - are "Operating with limited capacity" and that Mabanaft GmbH had "Declared force majeure for the majority of its inland supply activities in Germany."

Marquard & Bahls owns a portfolio that includes three divisions: the larger Oiltanking GmbH Group - which the firm told us "Continues to operate all terminals in all global markets"; Skytanking; and the Mabanaft division - which, confusingly, houses Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH - which operates all terminals in Germany and is not part of the Oiltanking GmbH Group.

Oiltanking told The Reg that the "Cyberincident" had only affected the two German companies.

As for the German companies, Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH and Mabanaft GmbH invoking "Force majeure" - a contractual clause that frees the business from liabilities arising from its obligations to customers - it's unclear what the outcome will be.

German newspaper Der Speigel reported that because Oiltanking's loading and unloading systems are "Essentially automated", the operation of the tanker trucks that supply some of the nation's petrol stations is only possible to a "Limited extent manually."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/02/01/oiltrading/