Secrecy of Saudi Aramco - Case Study Example

Understanding the factors that contribute to the success of Saudi Aramco in counterterrorism is essential for other companies facing similar threats to learn and improve their security. This paper intends to discuss the factors that contribute to the success of counterterrorism in Saudi Aramco. First, the company has skilled technical experts to secure the organization's assets and employees. The company hires ex-intelligence officers to help in managing the business's security. Particularly, the company chooses excellent candidates for the job (Al-Falih 2010).

This criterion ensures that Saudi Aramco gets a skilled team for the posts. For instance, the officers such as Dr. Mohammad Al-Dossary worked for Saudi intelligence before joining Saudi Aramco. Dr. Mohammad's ten years of experience in security matters gives Al-Dossary enough exposure to managing the security challenges that Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups pose. Nevertheless, the company has a team of skilled information technology professionals who avert cyber threats against the enterprise (Al-Dhubaib et al. 2008). For example, they quickly noticed the Shamoon virus attack the organization's computer and stopped the attack by unplugging the unaffected computers (Alkhateeb 2016).

These scenarios demonstrate the role that skilled professionals play in the success of Saudi Aramco in counterterrorism. Second, the organization trains enough security personnel to assist skilled experts. According to Al-Rodhan (2006), Saudi Aramco facilitates seminars and field training programs to produce enough guards for the company's protection program. Besides, the organization hires troops to help the guards. For instance, Saudi Aramco has more than 25000 troops designated to protect the business's infrastructure.

Each terminal and platform have an assigned special security unit comprising 5000 Saudi Aramco Security Officers. Furthermore, the organization has an undisclosed number of special unit officers from the National Guard and Ministry of Interior to enhance the security of the infrastructure against more aggressive attacks that could overpower the normal guards. Moreover, the coastguards and navy protect the Saudi Aramco installations against aggressors from the sea (Al-Rodhan 2006). The cooperation and coordination of all these security units reduce the chances of terror attacks causing damage to the organization's facilities and employees.

Moreover, the Saudi Aramco security department emphasizes preparedness for terror attacks. According to Al-Rodhan (2006), Aramco improves on the company's counterterrorism strategies, intelligence acquisition, and internal security forces to maintain the standards of their competence. Besides, they have a broad range of personnel who secure the facility. They range from the lowly ranked security guard at the gates to the highly skilled technical experts who operate the company's sophisticated high-caliber guns (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS 2015).

Similarly, Saudi Aramco prepares for terror attacks by allocating sufficient funds to run the security operations in the company. These funds enable the security units to purchase enough appropriate equipment for their activities (Al-Rodhan 2006). With such efficiency, Saudi Aramco stays prepared to handle terror attacks regardless of the severity (Rumsfeld 2002). The importance of these preparations manifested in the ability of the security teams to limit the damage and contain the effect of the attack.