Top CyberSecurity Vulnerabilities for Oil and Gas

Last year, The Ponemon Institute surveyed oil and gas risk security managers for their report. Of these surveyed, 68% stated that their company had suffered at least one security compromise involving information loss or operational disruption, in the past year. With those kinds of numbers floating around, it only makes sense why the Oil and Gas sector are scrambling to update their cyber security systems. With the increase in systems being breached, cyber security must be considered a safety priority, as operational systems are at risk of being hacked, causing not only a great loss in financial assets, but also risk in employee endangerment as well.

The threat landscape

Security vulnerabilities arise when companies connect industrial control systems (ICSs) – along value chains in upstream, midstream, and downstream operations – to enterprise IT networks for more operational visibility and business insight.

Advanced persistent threats (APT) are one of the most deceptive types of cyber threat, breaching security with ‘low and slow’ attacks that are hard to detect before a breach is fully executed. APTs operate under the radar of most conventional IT cybersecurity tools, executing a series of small events that may not constitute a cyber-attack, but could still indicate malicious intent.

Planned ransomware assaults may be the biggest threat, but unintentional incidents are just as dangerous. For example, an infected USB drive or third-party laptop can accidentally introduce malware and an overload of connected devices can overwhelm systems. It is expected that incidents like these will increase as more IoT devices migrate to operational environments.

Cyber security skills are crucial for the energy sector today. Oil and gas companies need to consider the importance of investing in cyber security to ensure actions and processes are considered with cyber security in mind. This should include taking a high-level view of all operational systems, equipment and personnel on a rig or a facility, to evaluate what is most vulnerable to attack. When assessing cyber security, human and social factors should be considered. This includes gaining a better understanding of how people behave and how this could affect security – such as how individuals share information internally. Are USBs connected and reconnected to different computers? Is critical data shared by email?

As cyber criminals become more sophisticated, the energy industry must develop a stronger and more responsive defense.

The Techcess CyberSecurity Group provides small and medium-sized businesses with the comprehensive services and support to ensure that their organization’s information systems remain secure and reliable. Located in Houston, Texas, we strive to provide our clients with enterprise-level security services they need to ward off and eliminate both run-of-the-mill security issues and the most destructive security threats many of today’s businesses face.

Our philosophy of promoting thorough network monitoring and employee training, coupled with our use of the industry’s most powerful security solutions, allow our clients to face fewer network security problems, curb inefficiencies, and experience less downtime. Our team of security experts respond quickly and provide a comprehensive resource to promote an organizational dedication to network and data security.

Speak to a support team member on the phone now! Phone: 1-833-TXCYBER | 1-833-892-9237