Saudi Arabia has been the target of frequent cyber attacks, including the “Shamoon” virus, which cripples computers by wiping their disks and has hit both government ministries and petrochemical firms, the latest of these was in 2017.
Aramco, which pumps 10% of global oil supply, experienced its largest cyber attack to date in August 2012, when a Shamoon virus attack damaged around 30,000 computers and was aimed at stopping oil and gas production at the biggest OPEC exporter.
Aramco’s facilities were also attacked in September by drone and missile strikes that temporarily shut down 5.7 million barrels per day of output – more than 5% of global oil supply. The U.S. blamed Iran for the attack, something Iran has denied.
“Overall there is definitely an increase in the attempts of (cyber) attacks, and we are very successful in preventing these attacks at the earliest stage possible,” Khalid al-Harbi declared in a telephone interview.
The malware has impacted other small organisations in Saudi Arabia, he said, without elaborating.
Harbi said that identifying the source of the cyber attacks was the most difficult aspect of cyber security.
