National Cybersecurity Authority: Global IT Outage Impact on National Authorities in Saudi Arabia Is Limited

Regarding the media reports about the outage of many technical systems in various vital sectors worldwide, the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) stated that the impact on national authorities in Saudi Arabia is limited according to what has been monitored so far.

NCA said that these malfunctions worldwide occurred when CrowdStrike sent out a package of updates for one of its products on Friday morning, July 19, 2024, which resulted in a technical defect.

Due to the tremendous support provided for the cybersecurity sector by the wise leadership in the Kingdom, the NCA has put in place proactive measures to monitor and follow up on cyber threats and risks and respond to any cyber incidents. This is in addition to its efforts at localizing national capabilities and enhancing technical sovereignty in this field, NCA explained.

In this context, the NCA added that the cybersecurity controls and standards have enhanced the security and reliability of cyberspace in the Kingdom, positively impacting the protection of national authorities and sensitive infrastructure in the Kingdom.

The NCA also follows the national authorities’ commitment to those controls and standards. It indicated that it continues to follow up through the National Portal for Cyber Security Services (HASEEN)and work in partnership with all national agencies to strengthen national cybersecurity as a goal and essential component for protecting the Kingdom’s vital interests, sensitive infrastructure, government services and activities, and priority agencies in the public and private sectors.