The news conference held by the deputy head of planning at ARAMCO and a Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry spokesman was very interesting and significant for transparency in Saudi media about the cyber attack against 30,000 computers at the company, out of 50,000, this summer. This took place through spreading a virus that was meant to "halt oil and gas production." The most important part of the news conference is that the investigation, as the security spokesman put it, led to the conclusion that sabotage by foreign parties, working on four continents, was responsible, and not any employees inside the firm. He said the authorities had names of people they were investigating, before revealing their identities. This modern cyber warfare is very easy to carry out and many sides have the technology to conduct such sabotage. However, the attack failed to affect the instruments responsible for drilling and production at ARAMCO, because its system is not linked to the emails that were targeted. Each field and production plant has its direct control system, giving all of the necessary information; it is not connected to the computers of ordinary employees at the company, but does feed other systems with information. The greatest damage was to emails and electronic documents, but the company succeeded in controlling the virus and re-operating 30,000 computers. It was an act of attempted sabotage of a global company that produces more than 9 million barrels of oil a day and supplies the markets of Saudi Arabia and the world. There would have been a catastrophe for the Saudi and global economy if not for the skill and superiority of ARAMCO employees. During the news conference, it was striking to note the media policy of renewed openness, frankness and transparency in revealing the information. It is also strange that the Arab press, which is quick to criticize and is not transparent, passed over the incident, which proves that Saudi Arabia has changed. As for the party behind the attempted sabotage, the spokesman said that the names of people implicated in this act from outside the country will be revealed later. Around a month ago, The New York Times revealed Iran's complicity in the sabotage that tried to hit ARAMCO computers. Hacking is a type of modern cyber warfare that is used by Israel, the United States and other countries. Iran certainly has the capacity to wage such a war, which is less costly than a traditional war. ARAMCO's confronting this sabotage allowed the superior company to learn several lessons about protecting and boosting basic systems in the Kingdom. The company's chairman Khaled al-Faleh, one of the best Saudi professionals, was prompted to send emails to 50,000 employees reassuring them that ARAMCO would emerge stronger and better after this incident and called on them to draw a number of lessons for protecting the national company. No doubt, if one looks at ARAMCO's management operations one will realize the superiority of this Saudi institution is not only in excavation and production, but also in social and educational development for company employees and their families. Thus, anyone who wants to harm Saudi Arabia from abroad is targeting a long-standing, successful company that is the pride of the Saudi people. If Iran was behind the sabotage of a giant firm such as ARAMCO, as The New York Times wrote, which is not unlikely, then it only represents additional effort by Tehran to destabilize things, not only in the Middle East but also the world, by trying to sabotage their economies. The Iranian regime does not hurt its own people enough already, through policies that deprive it of benefiting from its natural wealth. Iran also wants to disrupt the production of its neighbors; resorting to sabotage will backfire in the end. Instead, there should be praise for the great work by ARAMCO, in overcoming the sabotage attempt, and dealing with this incident through the media, by the Interior Ministry and ARAMCO. This is encouraging in terms of transparency and revealing of facts.
