The Kingdom recorded more than 60 million cyberattacks last year, with sectors such as oil and gas, banking and telecommunications being the main target, an expert in information security has said.
"The Kingdom is the most susceptible country in the Middle East to such attacks due to its key status economically and politically," Mohammed Amin was quoted as saying by local media.
Contemporary security problems and infiltrations are especially seen among institutions dealing with oil and gas and desalination in the Gulf because they rely on industrial equipment that can be controlled remotely via the Internet by hackers, he said.
The current trend to link everything to the Internet, especially in smart cities, requires additional attention on how to protect such systems, such as use of smart solutions and monitoring systems offered by some companies to repel such attacks, said Amin.
As for hacking into the banking system, he said such attacks can be categorized into three levels:
Hacking of individual bank accounts, followed by ATMs and the other banking systems. "Such cyberattacks on 100 banks around the world resulted in theft of $2.5 million. Complex attacks are executed by criminal groups who use various means to transfer funds and change account names," he said.
Amin stressed the importance of guaranteeing protection by putting in place a clear and cost-efficient strategy, as well as promoting awareness among users about such crimes.
