Saudi Arabia jails three for spying on Aramco

Saudi Arabia sentenced three nationals to prison terms for leaking confidential information about state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company, also known as Aramco, while they worked for a computer maintenance company contracted by the energy firm, Arab News reported.

One person was sentenced to six years in prison, while two others were given three-year prison terms each, the newspaper reported, citing court records.

The main suspect in the case stole hard disk drives from Aramco’s computers with one containing confidential information, as well as an external storage unit that belonged to an American engineer employed by Aramco, the newspaper added.

The newspaper said the case is not connected to the hacking attack on Aramco last August. That August 15 attack targeted 30,000 computers after a virus infected them aiming to stop crude oil and gas supplies.  None of the company’s employees or contractors were involved in that incident.