Oil giant says August cyber attack targeted all Saudi Arabia

An official of the Saudi oil company Aramco watches progress at a rig
at al-Howta oil field near Howta, Saudi Arabia. Picture: AP

OIL giant Saudi Aramco said on Sunday that an August cyber attack on its computer network targeted not just the company but the kingdom's economy as a whole.

The interior ministry, which joined Aramco's investigation into the attack that affected some 30,000 of the firm's computers, said it was carried out by organised hackers from several different foreign countries.

"The attack targeted the whole economy of the country, not just Aramco as an entity," said Abdullah al-Saadan, who headed the company's inquiry team.

"The aim was to stop pumping oil and gas to domestic and international markets," he told reporters.

Interior ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki said the joint investigation had established that an "organised group launched the attack from outside the kingdom and from different countries."