Routledge Companion to Global Cyber-Security Strategy

36THE “SILICON VALLEY OF THE MIDDLE EAST”

Cybersecurity, Saudi Arabia, and the path to Vision 2030

Anwar Ouassini and Kimeu W. Boynton

Introduction

In 2017, after a series of crippling cyber-attacks, King Salman of Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree to establish the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA). This institution would serve under the jurisdiction of Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman (MBS) to combat the successive cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, reinforce national security, and pursue the long-touted Vision 2030 to diversify the Saudi economy and establish it as the “Silicon Valley of the Middle East.” To address these challenges, the NCA under MBS has restructured existing information and communications technology organizations, ...