Aramco, one of the top integrated energy and chemical companies in the world, and Dragos Inc., the world leader in cybersecurity for operational technology (OT) environments, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) today to discuss potential ways to jointly safeguard vital industrial assets and infrastructure for Aramco, its affiliates, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In order to protect global supply chains and off-the-shelf environments, cybersecurity services and technology must be swiftly implemented. The MOU will set the stage for this investigation. The MOU seeks to assist Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 pillar, which is to develop a robust and progressively varied economy, in part through safe digital transformation that fosters investment and growth in the private sector.
Robert M. Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of Dragos, and Basim A. Al Ruwaii, Information Security Director and Chief Information Security Officer, Aramco, signed the MOU on behalf of Dragos and Aramco, respectively, in the presence of Ahmad Al-Khowaiter, Executive Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Aramco, and Salem S. Al-Elwi, Manager of OT/ICS Cybersecurity. Also in attendance were Aramco Ventures CEO Mahdi Aladel and Executive Managing Director, Strategic Venturing Bruce Niven. Aramco Ventures is an investor in Dragos.
The MOU involves development efforts for a local Dragos hardware assembly facility in addition to localising Dragos services and solutions. Furthermore, Dragos will discuss plans with Aramco to open a training facility in the nation with the goal of improving OT cybersecurity capabilities for technological applications.