Saudi state agencies targeted by hackers: Ministry

RIYADH

A wave of cyber-attacks over the course of the last year have targeted numerous government agencies in Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry announced Tuesday.

"We have monitored cyber-attacks originating from overseas on the electronic networks of several government institutions and vital sectors in the kingdom," the ministry tweeted on Tuesday.

Unidentified hackers, the ministry said, had managed to "exploit existing loopholes through e-mail servers".

"The relevant authorities are taking the necessary preventive measures," the ministry went on to assert, adding that investigations had since been launched into the phenomenon.

According to the ministry, the spate of attacks first began roughly one year ago, with the latest having occurred last week.

Thirty-nine percent of the attacks targeted the Saudi government sector, 23 percent the Saudi media sector, 15 percent the Saudi telecommunications sector and 15 percent the Saudi IT sector, according to ministry statistics.

The remaining 8 percent targeted the kingdom’s electricity and water sectors.

It remains unclear until now as to which individuals or groups are responsible for the attacks.

*Reporting by Ahmed al-Masri; Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg