Saudi Arabia showed resilience in face of global technological failure 
A recent global technical glitch caused disruptions to the operations of the world’s biggest airlines, banks, media networks, and other essential services.
The glitch resulted from a faulty software update issued by CrowdStrike, causing a massive overnight outage that affected Windows computers globally and disrupted several businesses’ operations around the world, including airports, train stations, banks, broadcasters, and the healthcare system.
CrowdStrike assured its clients that the outage was not caused by a cyberattack and was the result of a “defect” in a software update for its flagship security product, Falcon Sensor, which caused any Windows computer with Falcon installed to crash without fully loading.
CNN Business reported that insurers have begun calculating the resulting financial damage — and the picture is not pretty. It suggested that the IT outage, reportedly the largest in history, will cost Fortune 500 companies alone more than $5 billion in direct losses, according to one insurer’s analysis.
CrowdStrike is an American holding company located in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2011. The company secures the most critical areas of risk — endpoints and cloud workloads, identity, and data.
The CrowdStrike Falcon platform is, according to the company’s website, a “cloud security solution that integrates every aspect of cloud security into a unified console along with all other CrowdStrike modules, delivering deep visibility, detection, and real-time response across the entire cloud-native stack.”
Luckily, due to its reliable national communications network, Saudi Arabia was not affected. The Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) has confirmed that its technical systems and the government systems it hosts to provide services to citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia are working without interruption and have not been affected. The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) also confirmed the safety and integrity of its systems, national payment systems, and banking systems in Saudi Arabia.
I believe that the strength of our national wireless communication network and the application of strict cybersecurity protocols have helped the Kingdom avoid the potential effects of the global communication technological failure.
SAMA reiterated its commitment to maintaining the highest internationally recognized standards of operational and cybersecurity practices for its own systems, national payment systems, and all other systems connected to financial institutions.
It emphasized that it regularly reviews and updates its precautionary measures to ensure the efficiency and resilience of its business continuity plan, banking systems, and national payment systems.
These sustained efforts strengthen SAMA’s overall infrastructure, enabling it to provide robust financial services to its clients in Saudi Arabia both reliably and securely.
I believe that the strength of our national wireless communication network and the application of strict cybersecurity protocols have helped the Kingdom avoid the potential effects of the global communication technological failure.
Additionally, performing regular stress tests on wireless communication infrastructure and systems to ensure their reliability and resilience to any unexpected global technological failures has safeguarded the Kingdom from unwarranted cyberattack threats.
Finally, I believe that the SDAIA, in cooperation with its local and international partners, will continue to support the Kingdom in avoiding potential global technological failures and cyberattacks by ensuring an open and secure cyberspace and applying the best international practices.
It is worth noting that the set of precautionary and regulatory measures taken by the Kingdom against cyber risks and attacks mean it has obtained global recognition in the Global Cybersecurity Index, in which it ranks second, behind only the US.
• Talat Zaki Hafiz is an economist and financial analyst. X: @TalatHafiz
