Oman insurer hit by ransomware attack

MUSCAT, JAN 18 - Oman United Insurance Co SAOG, one of the largest insurers in the Sultanate, revealed on Thursday that it has successfully emerged from a New Year’s Day ransomware attack. The listed company said in a filing to the Capital Market Authority that alleged cyber criminals mounted the attack on the company’s data centre on the evening of January 1, 2020. “The main server was hit and some data was also infected and encrypted. The company lost some data relating to the period from December 10, 2019 to January 1, 2020. The online operation was suspended only for one day (Thursday, January 2, 2020). However, the server is operating and we recovered the lost data,” said a company spokesperson. Users of computers or networks infected with ransomware discover that they no longer have access to their systems or find their data encrypted. Cybercriminals typically demand a hefty sum of money (ransom) in exchange for surrendering access to the ‘remotely hijacked’ systems or data of their victims.