المملكة: 25 million riyals fine for violating the system of the National Cybersecurity Authority

The Kingdom issued the regulatory capabilities of the National Cybersecurity Authority in order to protect the Kingdom from cyber risks and enhance its position in confronting digital threats.
These possibilities include violations, their control, and the penalties they entail, which begin with a warning, temporary suspension of the license, cancellation of the license, suspension of service and activity, a fine of up to 25 million riyals, or a combination of a number of these penalties due to the violation.

Violations and penalties

The publication of the system regarding the regulatory capabilities of the National Cybersecurity Authority, a copy of which “Al-Youm” obtained, included 7 violations that require the aforementioned penalties. These violations include “not obtaining a license to practice any activity or operations related to cybersecurity, and failure to adhere to the policies and governance mechanisms related to cybersecurity.” Providing relevant misleading information to the public or to public or private entities, refraining from providing the Authority with what it requests to carry out its duties, and possessing, trading or manufacturing any device that does not comply with Requirements of the Authority or without obtaining a license from it, obstructing inspectors from performing their duties, and any action that violates the regulations and decisions of the Authority.”

The system requires that violations be referred within 3 working days from the date of issuance of the decision to a committee designated to look into the violations and impose the stipulated penalties within a period not exceeding 10 working days from the date of their referral. Inspectors are also responsible for detecting and investigating violations, while referring the violating seizures to the competent authorities.

Reference body

It is worth noting that the National Cybersecurity Authority is the reference authority in the Kingdom for everything related to cybersecurity and is concerned with strengthening national capabilities to protect digital infrastructure and enhance cybersecurity for vital sectors in line with the goals of Vision 2030.