Cyber Incident Victim: Saudi Press Agency
Date:
Jan 2016
Location:
Saudi Arabia
Summary
Anonymous conducted cyber attacks against multiple Saudi government agencies, including the Saudi Press Association, under operations #OpSaudi and #OpNimr to protest executions in the kingdom. The coordinated disruptions temporarily shut down websites for the Ministry of Defense, Education, Customs Service, Finance Ministry, Ombudsman’s Office, and General Passports Service, with some remaining offline following the attacks. This marked a continuation of hacktivist actions against the government, as the Defense Ministry's site had previously been targeted and remained inaccessible prior to the latest incident.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On January 2, 2016, the Saudi Arabian government announced the execution of 47 prisoners on terrorism charges, including prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Al Nimr, who had been arrested for organizing anti-government protests. In response, the hacktivist collective Anonymous initiated cyber attacks against multiple Saudi government websites under the designations #OpSaudi and #OpNimr, framing the operation as a protest against the executions. The attacks commenced shortly after the executions were publicized, with Anonymous claiming responsibility through social media channels such as Twitter. By January 5, 2016, the collective had successfully disrupted access to high-profile government domains, including the Saudi Press Association, Ministry of Defense, Royal Air Force, Ministry of Education, Customs Service, Ministry of Finance, Ombudsman’s Office, and General Passports Service. The Ministry of Defense’s website had been offline for two consecutive days following an initial attack preceding the broader campaign. Anonymous publicly listed the targeted websites via tweets containing screenshots of defaced pages or takedown confirmations, though the exact attack vectors remained unspecified in available reports.
The disruptions caused intermittent or prolonged outages across affected entities, with some services restored by January 5 while others remained inaccessible. This incident followed Anonymous’s prior September 2015 cyber campaign against Saudi targets, which had protested the government’s sentencing of Mohammed al-Nimr—Sheikh Nimr’s nephew—to crucifixion for alleged anti-government activities committed as a minor. The 2016 attacks demonstrated recurring tensions between the collective and Saudi authorities over human rights issues, though no technical countermeasures or forensic findings from Saudi officials were documented in available sources. The operational impact included temporary disruption of public-facing services for critical government functions such as defense, finance, education, and media dissemination through the Saudi Press Association. Historical context indicated that Anonymous consistently cited Saudi Arabia’s judicial actions against dissidents, particularly within the Shia community, as justification for its attacks.