Syed Rashid Husain ATTACKS on Saudi energy infrastructure are not something new. Ever since the advent of the “war on terror,” Saudi oil and energy infrastructure has been on the radar of extremists, terrorists and enemies. A number of attempts have been made over these last few years to hit the Saudi energy infrastructure and disrupt the flow of crude from the Kingdom to the world. Even with current glut like situation, that would simply be disastrous to the global energy balance. An attempted attack in February 2006 on the Abqaiq oil processing facility - arguably the world's most critical oil hub through which flows some 70 percent of Saudi Arabia's exports was thwarted by the security forces. Yet the very news of the attempted attack on the facility caused oil prices to jump by more than $2 a barrel then, underlining the pivotal role this facility plays in the Saudi crude exports. In 2008, Saudi security forces arrested more than 700 suspected Al-Qaeda militants believed to be plotting attacks on oil installations. These militants were arrested over a period of six months for allegedly plotting to carry out terrorist attacks on oil facilities and other vital installations across the Kingdom, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced then. “Some of the arrested suspects were planning to stage terrorist attacks on oilfields and installations,” Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the ministry was quoted then by the press as saying. Preceding this, several attacks specifically directed at the oil infrastructure were undertaken by militants. In May 2004, militants attacked a petrochemical site in Yanbu, killing five foreigners. Several sites in Al-Khobar housing offices of a few major oil-related companies were also attacked by the extremists, rather simultaneously, around the same time. Both these attacks attracted huge international interest then and several questions on the stability of crude supplies from Saudi Arabia were raised in the international media then. In May 2010, Saudi Arabia announced the arrest of another 113 alleged Al-Qaeda militants planning attacks against oil facilities. The militant cells were in the preliminary stages of planning attacks on oil and security facilities in Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern Province, it was reported then. And while investigations to unearth the players and the plot behind the recent cyber attack on Aramco network continues to this day, initial results underline, rather in very vocal terms, that extremists and enemies continue to target Saudi Arabia and its oil infrastructure, and for a single reason – impeding the crude flow from the Kingdom. Players may have changed, roles may have been swapped, yet the intentions and objective remains the same – to cripple the Saudi crude infrastructure. Although Lieutenant General Mansour Al-Turki was not ready to reveal any further at this stage, when he spoke to media last week, he was candid in saying that the very plot was envisaged in “several countries,” spread over several continents. It was an organized hacking effort from several countries using the IP addresses, he was categorical in saying. And interestingly, the Kingdom is yet to contact all the countries whose territory was used for planning and executing this attack. “We have not contacted all the countries yet, but response from the countries already contacted by us has been positive. We are satisfied with the response of the governments contacted so far,” General Al-Turki said in response to a question from this correspondent, leaving ample room for speculation. The hacking of the network of world's most integrated oil company, responsible for meeting more than 10 percent of the total global crude demand, was done through “spear fishing.” It impacted some 30,000 hard drives in the company, deleting the main file in each computer. Hard drives of all these computers were changed immediately, it was also confirmed. Both General Al-Turki and Saad Al-Saddan, Aramco VP Corporate Affairs who headed the Aramco investigation team into the cyber attack, were also candid in rejecting the growing buzz, especially in the international media, that the attack could have been an insider job. “No insider was involved. No employee, no contractor,” they both were unanimous in saying and underlining. And the attack on the Aramco network was not a one-day affair. It continued for weeks. It was first detected mid-August this year, as the region was getting into a holiday mood on account of Eid Al Fitr. And the efforts to wreck Aramco's system went on until September 13, when it was finally stopped, Saadoun underlined. Yet, despite all the attempts, the hackers failed in their intentions – altogether. “The major objective of the attackers was to disrupt oil flow from the Kingdom. And they failed completely in meeting their objectives. Not a single drop of oil flow was impacted,” the Aramco VP reaffirmed categorically. This is reassuring – in more than one ways! And markets too need to take comfort from it. Realizing the environmental threats, Saudi Aramco remains vigilant and ready to thwart any such attack in the future too – be they cyber or otherwise. All attempts to disrupt outflow of crude from the Kingdom over the last few years have failed in their objective. And this cyber attack too met the same fate. Had it succeeded, it would have been a different world today, one could definitely say with some hindsight. And with cyber attacks now a reality, the Saudi Minister of Interior has in fact instructed his ministry to establish a national security center to thwart and deal with any future attack on any Saudi organization, Aramco including, General Al-Turki told the media at the sprawling Ghawar Center, located in the Aramco headquarters in Dhahran. Saudi Arabia is ready. Despite odds, it has never faltered in crude supplies – and at a cost to itself – the world now needs to, at least, concede and acknowledge.
