Oiltanking: Hackers cripple IT systems of gasoline depots
Hackers have paralyzed Oiltanking's IT systems in Germany. Tankers can no longer be loaded, but the gasoline supply is not at risk.
Oiltanking confirmed the hacker attack to Handelsblatt. The oil trader Mabanaft, which like the tank terminal operator is a subsidiary of the Hamburg-based Marquard & Bahls group, was also affected. Despite the problems at Oiltanking, no supply bottlenecks are expected at service stations.
Supply not at risk
Oiltanking operates eleven tank terminals in Germany and is one of the world's largest suppliers of tank space for mineral oils, chemicals and gases that is not part of a major oil company. In Germany, the company mainly supplies medium-sized service stations and Shell.
Oiltanking told Handelsblatt, "We are working to solve the problem according to our contingency plans." The loading and unloading of tank trucks is particularly affected, he said, as it is automated and manual intervention is only possible to a limited extent.
In response to a question from Handelsblatt, Shell explained that it would be able to compensate for the impact on supply chains by using alternative loading points. Here, it is an advantage that Oiltanking is only one of 26 companies in the tank supply business. According to Frank Schaper, managing director of the Independent Tank Storage Association, "the supply of fuel, heating fuel or combustibles to the Federal Republic of Germany is not threatened by the attack." It remains unclear, he said, what effects a prolonged outage of Oiltanking could have.
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