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RIYADH: Ministry of Labor and Social Development spokesman Khaled Aba Al-Khail said the ministry and the Human Resources Development Fund’s (Hadaf) electronic systems were attacked by a virus, but they are coordinating with the National Center for Cybersecurity (NCC) at the Ministry of Interior to address the problem.
Both the ministry and Hadaf have taken necessary steps for the safety of their systems, he said, adding that no significant damage was done as a result of the attack.
An alert from the telecoms authority advised all parties to be vigilant for attacks from the Shamoon 2 variant of the virus that in 2012 crippled tens of thousands of computers at Saudi Aramco.
Aba Al-Khail said the two institutions are following all the needed technical procedures and taking all measures to protect their databases, stressing that they were able to deal with (such situations) in coordination with the National Center for Cybersecurity.
He said the virus infected only some websites and some peripheral systems for users, but the databases containing customers’ information were not affected.
He said that the ministry and Hadaf’s electronic systems would be gradually running normally soon.
Jubail-based Sadara Chemical Co., a joint venture firm owned by Saudi Aramco and US company Dow Chemical, said it had experienced a network disruption on Monday morning and was working to resolve the issue.
The company made the disclosure on its official Twitter account after the warning by Al-Ekhbariya TV, which cited the telecoms authority. It did not say whether the disruption was due to a cyberattack but said as a precautionary measure it had stopped all services related to the network.
Other companies in Jubail, the hub of the Saudi petrochemicals industry, also experienced network disruptions, according to sources who were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
Those companies sought to protect themselves from the virus by shutting down their networks, said the sources, who declined to identify specific firms.
• With inputs from Reuters