FBI probes cyberattacks on oil firms

The FBI is investigating cyberattacks on three major oil companies in 2008 that involved the theft of proprietary information, according to an article in The Christian Science Monitor.

The companies were identified as Marathon Oil, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips.

Officials say the attacks may have originated in China, but no one knows for sure. These breaches strike at the very heart of energy resources worldwide, and underscore the difficulty the U.S. and other nations have in investigating and preventing these crimes.

Information targeted in these attacks is known as "bid data," which details the quantity, value, and location of oil discoveries worldwide, according to the Monitor. Sources told the newspaper that the purloined data included email passwords, messages and other information tied to executives with access to proprietary exploration and discovery information.

The case is one more example of the threat of data breaches inside and outside the federal government, not to mention the growing sophistication of hack attacks worldwide. The real question is whether the FBI has the expertise to investigate and solve these kinds of cases.

For more on these breaches:
- check out this Christian Science Monitor article

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