{"id":87974,"date":"2024-07-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/07\/21\/flynas-cybersecurity-authority-among-those-hit-by-global-crowdstrike-glitch\/"},"modified":"2024-07-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T00:00:00","slug":"flynas-cybersecurity-authority-among-those-hit-by-global-crowdstrike-glitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/07\/21\/flynas-cybersecurity-authority-among-those-hit-by-global-crowdstrike-glitch\/","title":{"rendered":"Flynas, cybersecurity authority among those hit by global CrowdStrike glitch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, everyone. <\/strong>We have a packed issue for you this morning, so we\u2019re going to jump straight in:<\/p>\n

<\/a> Saudi companies, airports, and government agencies were among the untold dozens of <\/strong>institutions worldwide hit this weekend by what may be the world\u2019s largest IT outage. <\/strong>The National Cybersecurity Authority, Flynas, and several domestic airports were among joined their global peers in facing technical and operational disruptions on Friday they said in separate statements posted on X (here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>). <\/p>\n

Not impacted here at home: <\/strong>The Saudi Central Bank Sama, the Saudi Data and AI Authority, and the Human Resources and Social Development Ministry were spared from the global computer crash, according to separate posts on the social media platform (here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Blue Screens Of Death for everyone: <\/strong>A routine software update pushed by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike<\/a> to its Falcon Sensor software threw some 8.5 mn machines running Microsoft Windows into boot loops. Airlines and some other companies were particularly hard-hit: Microsoft\u2019s Azure platform went down for some<\/a> late on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The irony: <\/strong>CrowdStrike bills itself as the fastest way for IT pros to detect threats to their infrastructure. It serves more than 29k major global companies and institutions, including more than half of the Fortune 1000. <\/p>\n

Who was impacted: <\/strong>Many airports and airlines around the world grounded flights and did manual paperwork. Some broadcasters were off air, hospitals canceled procedures, and banking services were offline in many countries, Bloomberg reports<\/a>. Emergency services were also hit in some countries. <\/p>\n

The status now: <\/strong>Things are starting to unsnarl as technicians push out fixes, Reuters<\/a> notes. Windows users who have been impacted have to reboot their machines and manually delete CrowdStrike\u2019s botched update \u2014 a process that requires hands-on access to each device, according to Financial Times<\/a>. It\u2019s a process that could take days for businesses with large fleets of impacted devices and not enough IT staff, experts told FT.<\/p>\n

Y2K redux:<\/strong> The tech failure is now being described as one of the biggest tech failures ever<\/a> and is raising questions<\/a> about the fragility of the world\u2019s fundamental IT architecture. \u201cThis is basically what we were worried about with Y2K,\u201d cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt wrote in an X<\/a> post Friday, \u201cexcept it\u2019s actually happened this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

REGIONALLY-<\/strong> the failure impacted<\/a> some of electronic systems in the UAE and had a limited impact on flight operations.<\/p>\n

HAPPENING TODAY-<\/p>\n

<\/a> #1- The new <\/strong>Saudization<\/strong> rate for engineering comes into effect today<\/strong>, state news agency<\/a>SPA<\/a> reported. The regulation, which was announced in January<\/a>, stipulates that private companies employing five or more engineers must have Saudi citizens account for at least 25% of their engineering headcount<\/p>\n

Background: <\/strong>The Human Resources and Social Development Ministry first set<\/a> in 2020 a 20% Saudization target for engineering professions.<\/p>\n

#2- It\u2019s a law week by Monsha\u2019at: <\/strong>Small and medium enterprises regulator Monsha\u2019at will hold a series of events in Riyadh, Madinah, Jeddah, and Al Khobar to raise awareness about regulations for small businesses, according to a statement<\/a>. You can check out extra resources and workshops here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

WEATHER- It\u2019s going to be hot. But you know that\u2026 <\/strong>Riyadh will see a daytime high of 46\u00b0C and nighttime low of 32\u00b0C today. It\u2019s almost as hot in Makkah, where the mercury will peak at 45\u00b0C during the day before dropping to 33\u00b0C at night. Meanwhile, Jeddah, the coolest of the three, is looking at a high of 42\u00b0C and an overnight low of 31\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

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WATCH THIS SPACE-<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/strong>#1- Nomu-listed snacks-maker Fesh Fash has pulled the plug on its transition to <\/strong>Tadawul\u2019s main <\/strong>market<\/strong>, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul<\/a> after falling short of liquidity requirements. It said it will reconsider a transition again after meeting requirements for the move.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper?<\/strong> While the company did not provide further details, the checklist for a transition from Nomu to Tadawul includes being on the parallel market for two years and having an average market cap of SAR 200 mn in the last six months ahead of an upgrade to the main market among others. <\/p>\n

Need more background? <\/strong>You can find all the requirements for making the move to the main market from Nomu here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#2- The National Transport Safety Center is investigating a fire during the takeoff of a <\/strong>Cairo-bound Nile Air flight from the King<\/strong> Fahd International Airport in Dammam<\/strong>, it said in a statement on X<\/a>. All 186 passengers and eight crew members on board the Airbus A320 were safely evacuated. The fire reportedly originated in the aircraft\u2019s wheel system.<\/p>\n

#3- The Human Resources and Social Development Ministry is reportedly investigating <\/strong>allegations that workers may have been mistreated <\/strong>by staff of e-commerce player Noon. The New York Times\u2019 The Athletic<\/a> has the story. <\/p>\n

AND- The <\/strong>Financial Times<\/a><\/strong> has a long take on the Kingdom\u2019s courting of foreign filmmakers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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DATA POINTS-<\/p>\n

#1- Real estate brokerage law is already reaping fruit: <\/strong>The number of real estate transactions grew by 17% to 3.5 mn at a value of SAR 605 bn since the implementation of the real estate brokerage law in January of last year, Argaam<\/a> reported, citing statements by Real Estate General Authority CEO Abdullah Al Hammad. Residential transactions accounted for nearly half of total real estate sales during the period, up 18% to 2.9 million at a total value of SAR 305 billion.<\/p>\n

REFRESHER- <\/strong>The broker regulations<\/a> cover licensing and training, advertising rules, brokerage contracts, and the recording of transactions. The regulations were released in July 2022 and came into effect in January 2023.<\/p>\n

#2- Saudi chemical exports dropped 14% y-o-y to SAR 5.8 bn in April 2024<\/strong>, Argaam<\/a> reported. The exports were also down 15% from March 2023. China was the top importer of Saudi chemical products in April, with imports totaling SAR 840 mn to account for 14.6% of total chemical exports. India followed with imports worth SAR 712.1 mn, while UAE came in third at SAR 495 mn. The Kingdom\u2019s imports of chemicals were up 10% y-o-y in April to SAR 6 bn.<\/p>\n

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OIL WATCH-<\/p>\n

<\/a> Opec+ is likely to keep its oil output policy unchanged on Thursday, 1 August <\/strong>when its joint ministerial monitoring committee meets online, Reuters<\/a> reported, citing three unnamed sources. One of the sources said the meeting would be a \u201cpulse check\u201d for the market after the oil cartel agreed to an extension of cuts at its last meeting in June. <\/p>\n

In context-<\/strong> Opec+ kept in place<\/a> last month current production cuts of 3.66 mn barrels per day (bbl \/ d) until the end of this September, before beginning to phase out the cuts of 2.2 mn bbl \/ d over the course of a year from October 2024 to September 2025.<\/p>\n

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SPORTS-<\/p>\n

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has joined newly promoted side Al <\/strong>Qadsiah<\/strong>, with the Aramco-owned club tying down the former Arsenal, Dortmund, and Barcelona player to a contract that runs until 2026, according to a statement<\/a>. Aubameyang is joining Al Qadsiah from Marseille after just one season with the French club. No details were provided on the transfer value or the player\u2019s wage, but media reports<\/a> have suggested that the Gabonese international signed with Al Qadsiah for a fee of EUR 9-10 mn with a salary of EUR 20 mn per season.<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD- <\/p>\n

The big story this morning is unquestionably the global IT outage that\u2019s been compared <\/strong>to the Y2K<\/strong> bug that worried IT pros a generation ago. We have the details above.<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE- Calls for Joe Biden to bow out of the US presidential race continue to <\/strong>gather steam <\/strong>as the octogenarian candidate remains publicly defiant<\/a> in the face of media and party skepticism. Leaks in and out of Washington \u2014 including reports<\/a> that former president Barack Obama is now calling into question Biden\u2019s ability to win in November \u2014 reflect the Democratic Party\u2019s increasing concern with Biden\u2019s candidacy.<\/p>\n

What happens next? <\/strong>It\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess, but the New York Times suggests<\/a> that:<\/p>\n