SUSTG.com / Research

Discover stories, topics, and more about Saudi Arebia faster.

Recent stories from sustg

  • Major U.S. $7.9 Billion Weapon Sales Plans Include $3.51b in Chinooks to Saudi Arabia
     

    The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has approved five notifications of weapon sales to Congress, including 48 Chinook Cargo Helicopters for Saudi Arabia, Apache helicopters for the United Arab Emirates and TOW missiles for Morocco, according to reports. The estimated cost for the Saudi purchase is $3.51 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required […]

     
  • ‘Shamoon’ Comeback: Several Saudi Government Agencies Attacked by Malware from Iranian State-Sponsored Hack
     

    State-sponsored hackers have reportedly conducted a series of destructive malware attacks on Saudi Arabia over the last two weeks, including erasing data and wreaking havoc in the computer banks of the agency running the country’s airports and hitting five additional targets, Bloomberg reports. U.S. security firms said that a version of Shamoon, the computer virus […]

     
  • Three New Ventures by MiSK to Boost Innovation, Training and Investment
     

    Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s MiSK Foundation launched three new strategic ventures in Riyadh aimed “at comprehensively building the skills, knowledge and capability for economic growth within the Saudi Arabian tech sector,” Reuters and the Saudi Gazette reports. MiSK Academy, MiSK Technovation and MiSK Booster mark a significant new development in the foundation’s work to empower, […]

     
  • Saudi King Salman Congratulates Trump
     

    Saudi King Salman on Wednesday congratulated Republican Donald Trump on winning the US presidency. King Salman said both Saudi Arabia’s government and its people “offer their best wishes for the new US leader” and also “wished more progress for the US government and its people, and more ease for the new Trump administration to be […]

     
  • Halt in Saudi Oil Shipments to Egypt Latest Indication of Worsening Relations
     

    State-owned oil company Saudi Aramco halted shipments of oil products to Egypt indefinitely, the latest indication that Egypt-Saudi relations are worsening since a visit by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to the country in March. Aramco informed the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. in early October that it would halt supplies of refined oil products, forcing Egypt to […]

     
  • Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Fire Missiles Toward Holy City of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Coalition Says
     

    Yemen’s Houthi militia launched a ballistic missile toward Mecca on Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition intervening in Yemen’s civil war on behalf of the government said in a statement. Reuters via the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reports that Coalition forces “destroyed the missile 65 km (40 miles) from the holy city before it could do any […]

     
  • Yemen Ceasefire Tested by Missiles, Airstrikes
     

    The 72-hour U.N.-backed truce in Yemen came under duress on Thursday when missiles fired from inside the war-torn country killed two civilians in Saudi Arabia, while a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes that Iran-allied Houthi fighters said killed three people, according to reports. The U.N.-brokered ceasefire began late on Wednesday, which “brought Sanaa its first night without air strikes in […]

     
  • 72-Hour Ceasefire in Yemen Set for Wednesday Night
     

    The United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen announced a 72-hour cease-fire to begin Wednesday night, after he received commitments from all of the country’s warring factions, according to reports. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the cessation of hostilities will begin at 8:59 p.m. UTC Wednesday and could be renewed after the initial three-day period. Twice […]

     
  • Yemen’s Houthis Fire Another Missile into Saudi Arabia as Kingdom, Iran Spar at UN over War
     

    Saudi Arabia says it has shot down a ballistic missile fired into the Kingdom by Houthi rebels and their Iranian allies in the latest incident in Yemen’s civil war that has raged for nearly 19 months. The missile targeted the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait and was destroyed Tuesday night without causing any injuries, the Saudi Press […]

     
  • Deadly Coalition Missile Attack on Funeral in Yemen Draws International Condemnation, Prompts U.S. Review of Support
     

    The ongoing conflict in Yemen was further inflamed this weekend after a missile attack on a funeral hall killed over 160 civilians, sparking outrage across the war-torn country. Yemeni officials and witnesses are blaming the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen for the attack, which threatens to significantly alter the war’s course. The coalition initially denied […]

     

MUST-READS

  • WhatsApp privacy changes could turn off Saudi users: Cybersecurity experts

    A controversial new WhatsApp privacy policy could see many Saudi users switch off to the Kingdom’s favorite instant messaging app, cybersecurity experts claim. From Feb. 8, users of the popular mobile social media platform will no longer be able to access the service unless they have accepted the update and will be forced to delete their accounts.

  • Acting Secretary Wolf Signs Multiple Security Cooperation Agreements with Bahraini Government

    Today, Acting DHS Secretary Chad F. Wolf signed multiple security cooperation agreements that focus on facilitating secure trade and travel with the Kingdom of Bahrain. Acting Secretary Wolf and Minister of Interior Lt. General Sheikh Rashed bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa signed the Global Entry (GE) Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) and agreements to increase cooperation on border and cargo security.

  • Saudi sovereign wealth fund launches company to develop private security sector

    Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said on Tuesday it had established a company to develop and expand the private security sector in the kingdom. The National Security Services Co (SAFE) will focus on providing services such as security consulting, security solutions, training and development, and a range of specialised services, the PIF said in a statement on its website.

  • Saudi Arabia’s top cybersecurity concerns for 2021

    Change is a primary factor in cybersecurity success for Saudi Arabia, said global technology leader Cisco in its 2021 Security Outcomes Study, which offers actionable insights for practitioners deciding where to focus their efforts in the year ahead.

  • Hack against US is ‘grave’ threat, cybersecurity agency says

    The hack compromised federal agencies and “critical infrastructure” in a sophisticated attack that was hard to detect and will be difficult to undo, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in an unusual warning message. The Department of Energy acknowledged it was among those that had been hacked.

  • IAEA chief says nuclear security risks increased under Trump, urges Biden to re-engage

    IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi discussed the risks of both Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs to the world, and said Mr. Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the international nuclear agreement with Tehran had intensified the danger.

  • Opinion: Will COVID Finally Force Us to Think Differently About National Security?

    As the NDS notes, many of the pressing challenges to U.S. prosperity and security come from adversaries using influence operations, predatory economics, coercion, subversion, proxy networks, and other non-kinetic means. There is a significant divergence between “minor” conflicts and more “conventional” military conflicts, which calls into question the logic of investing predominately in high-end military capabilities. Policymakers should instead emphasize the ways and means most likely to factor into competition and prevent strategic surprise at a fraction of the cost.

  • Iraq’s energy security strategy: A path to diversity and energy independence

    Iraq’s electricity infrastructure has been neglected since the 1980s. In that decade, Iraqi funds were diverted to the staggering cost of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88). Early in the 1990s, Iraq’s electricity facilities were bombed by a US-led coalition during the Gulf War (1990-91).

  • IBM opens its first ever security operations center in Saudi Arabia

    US multinational IBM Security on Wednesday announced the official opening of its first security operations center in Saudi Arabia The Riyadh center will offer IBM’s private and government sector clients in the Kingdom the option of managing their security operations around the clock via the company’s staff and local infrastructure.

  • Iran assassination: Amid finger-pointing, calls to rethink security

    “The Fakhrizadeh assassination came as a shock, not because [they] didn’t expect it, but exactly because they did expect and prepare for it, and yet they couldn’t prevent it,” says Maysam Behravesh, an intelligence analyst on contract with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security from 2008 to 2010, and now a Sweden-based researcher with Clingendael, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations.