Computer Security in Qatar

Aljazeera journalists hacked

What did attackers break into? The attackers broke into journalists' mobile phones

How did the attackers break into it? The attackers used advanced spyware to spy on Aljazeera journalists by infiltrating malicious codes to enter data into foreign servers

Who was impacted? 36 journalists were blackmailed “They have used some of the content they stole from the phones to blackmail journalists, by posting private photos on the internet,” - Tamer Almisshal, a journalist.

How was it investigated? Citizen lab researchers at the University of Toronto conducted a research/investigation


RasGas virus attack

What did attackers break into? The companies computer network

How did the attackers break into it? Using an unknown virus that infiltrated all the computers

Who was impacted? The companies computers, emails, and website were down for a week, however, there was "no impact whatsoever on operations in Ras Laffan Industrial City and there are no issues with cargo deliveries.” -RasGas spokesman

How was it investigated? The attacker is still unknown. However, prior to this attack by 13 days, a big oil company in Saudi faced the same issue and a group of hackers that go by the name of "Cutting Sword of Justice" claimed that they took the computers down