Saudi Aramco calls for closer collaboration on cybersecurity in the energy industry

• Amin Nasser urges greater efforts to enhance regional cybersecurity collaboration and international cyber-deterrence. 

• Saudi Aramco established the Intelligence Sharing Consortium in the Energy Industry to defend against cybersecurity threats.

Saudi Aramco’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Amin H. Nasser, participated today in the Global Cybersecurity Forum held under the patronage of The Custodian of the Two Hold Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to highlight the constantly evolving threat of cyber-terrorism to governments, businesses, and individuals.

Taking place during Saudi Arabia’s G20 presidency year and organized for the first time by the National Cybersecurity Authority, the forum serves to create a platform for discussion between private and government institutions to create foundations for greater cyber resilience, capacity and management of the ever increasing threat landscape.

In his speech, Mr. Nasser urged greater efforts to enhance regional cybersecurity collaboration and international cyber-deterrence. Mr. Nasser proposed a more realistic and inclusive strategy to promote effective industry collaboration on cybersecurity, and encouraged businesses to work with governments and strengthen existing international frameworks.

Mr. Nasser stressed: “Aligning cybersecurity policy, collaborating on technology, and sharing information and experience beyond the fence, is non-negotiable,” noting that company fences and national boundaries are meaningless concepts in this domain. “To beat a network, we need to be a network.”

He said no institution can solely face cyber risks. It requires significant cooperation and partnership between all relevant stakeholders. It is therefore necessary to accelerate the development of a clear global framework that constitutes an international legal reference in cybersecurity governance and enhances measures against entities involved in cyber-terrorism.

Mr. Nasser shared Saudi Aramco’s achievement in building a cyber-resilient culture, saying: “Cybersecurity is one of the top corporate risks we address in our Enterprise Risk Management Program and is a personal priority for me.”

He concluded his remarks by underscoring the importance of embracing “the wonders of the modern world,” while simultaneously practicing caution and sound cybersecurity measures to stay a step ahead.

In efforts to collaboratively counter cyber threats, Saudi Aramco established an Intelligence Sharing Consortium in the Energy Industry, with partners such as SABIC and Sadara. Saudi Aramco is also a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s Center for Cybersecurity (WEF C4C) that promotes global collaboration and leads global initiatives across various sectors within the cybersecurity industry.