Aramco teams up with Raytheon to fight cyber-security threats
Saudi Aramco and US defence company Raytheon will form a joint venture for cyber-security services in the kingdom and the region to mitigate the threat of cyber attacks.
The company will develop and provide integrated defensive cyber-security software and hardware capabilities in addition to undertaking research and development, according to a statement from Aramco.
The joint venture will increase cyber-security protection available to Saudi Aramco, its suppliers, customers and affiliates.
“Demand for cyber-security services is expected to grow as companies move further into the digital space and embrace technologies such as the Internet of Things and big data,” said Khalid Al Dabbagh, Saudi Aramco’s senior vice president of finance, strategy and development. “The partnership with Raytheon will help strengthen cyber security and enhance its infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the broader region.”
Oil and gas companies in the Middle East have become increasingly wary of external and internal threats to their data and operations following a wave of cyber attacks against their facilities, notably in 2012 and 2013.
Six years ago, Aramco – which accounts for 12.9 per cent of global crude output – was the victim of a high-profile cyber attack from the so-called Shamoon virus that wiped out data on 30,000 computers.
The attacks are believed to have been carried out by Iran, though Tehran has denied culpability.
The joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Raytheon Saudi Arabia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raytheon based in Riyadh, comes after an agreement between the Raytheon unit and Saudi Arabia Military Industries, or Sami, covering a range of programmes for local manufacturing in precision munitions, air and missile defence and cyber defence.
The agreements are part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan to create high-skill jobs for Saudis and develop technology know-how as the kingdom overhauls the economy to reduce its reliance on oil.
The joint venture also builds on a series of agreements announced by the kingdom and major US corporations following a visit by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the US earlier this year and US President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh last year.
At the Saudi-US Forum in New York in March, Saudi Arabia’s US embassy said the kingdom had signed 36 memorandums of understanding, totalling more than $20 billion (Dh73.4bn) in new business partnerships.
The preliminary agreements include a partnership between Alphabet’s Google and Saudi Aramco for national cloud services.
The high incidence of cyber attacks in the region is creating opportunities for global cyber-security companies.
The level of protection against external attackers was assessed extremely low for 43 per cent of Middle East companies, which may help cause a rise in attacks, according to a report released by Kaspersky Lab, based in Moscow.