I've been out on leave for the past month (more on that later) and returned Sunday night to a regular internet mess here in Aramco environs.
In case you've been living under a rock, you should google "Aramco virus" to read about the damaging virus that was set off (literally like a bomb) in Saudi Aramco computers at the beginning of the eid holiday when manpower is typically at its lowest for the year. Rumors are myriad but it appears to have been a politically motivated attack that was possibly, very possibly, arranged by someone in Aramco.
Aramco's production and delivery operations don't seem to have been affected but Aramco has shut off all of our outside connectivity, including home internet. We can email other Aramco employees while at work but we can't use the internet or email anyone outside the company at work or at home. It isn't clear to anyone why home internet seems to be a threat but perhaps the servers were damaged; their restoration would be a relatively low priority right now.
Not surprisingly, since Aramcons tend to be a rather tech-savvy bunch, there's been a stampede to the local stores of the main service providers.
Tonight, I bought a microSIM for my iPad. I can take the pad to work and use it to send work-related emails outside the company. And I bought a router that will connect my computer and Vonage line, and send password-protected wifi to my iPad when it is at home.
Obviously, I managed to get all of that set up successfully tonight since I'm posting this. As a friend of mine used to say, it isn't much of a problem if you can throw some money at it to solve it.
Internet connectivity: problem solved.
In case you've been living under a rock, you should google "Aramco virus" to read about the damaging virus that was set off (literally like a bomb) in Saudi Aramco computers at the beginning of the eid holiday when manpower is typically at its lowest for the year. Rumors are myriad but it appears to have been a politically motivated attack that was possibly, very possibly, arranged by someone in Aramco.
Aramco's production and delivery operations don't seem to have been affected but Aramco has shut off all of our outside connectivity, including home internet. We can email other Aramco employees while at work but we can't use the internet or email anyone outside the company at work or at home. It isn't clear to anyone why home internet seems to be a threat but perhaps the servers were damaged; their restoration would be a relatively low priority right now.
Not surprisingly, since Aramcons tend to be a rather tech-savvy bunch, there's been a stampede to the local stores of the main service providers.
Tonight, I bought a microSIM for my iPad. I can take the pad to work and use it to send work-related emails outside the company. And I bought a router that will connect my computer and Vonage line, and send password-protected wifi to my iPad when it is at home.
Obviously, I managed to get all of that set up successfully tonight since I'm posting this. As a friend of mine used to say, it isn't much of a problem if you can throw some money at it to solve it.
Internet connectivity: problem solved.
1 comment:
It's good to know you are still among us! (Dang, I had to refresh the word-thingy three times before I could find one I could read)
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