Venezuelan oil company downplays alleged U.S. cyberattack

Venezuela’s state-owned oil and natural gas company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) this week downplayed the impact of what appeared to be a major cyberattack, which it blamed on the U.S. government, without providing evidence.

In a statementt, PDVSA, one of Latin Amerca’s largest oil producers, called the attack a “despicable action orchestrated by foreign interests in complicity with stateless actors.” It extolled the expertise of PDVSA’s inhouse talent for ensuring the attack caused no operational disruptions and restricting it to the company’s administrative systems.

“The operational continuity of the industry is maintained through the implementation of secure protocols that allow its regular activities in the supply of products in the national market, as well as for the fulfillment of all its export commitments,” according to a Google translation of the original Spanish-language statement. The statement reminded the people of Venezuela and the international community about the incident not being the first time the U.S. government had tried to affect the country’s national stability and “steal Christmas” from its citizens.

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