Market Segment
Every day, we depend on energy for almost every type of activity imaginable. Energy is needed to keep the lights on, provide transportation around the world, allow hospitals to run, power the internet, and much more. Also called the Oil and Gas sector, this sector is considered a critical infrastructure sector by most countries in the world. This is because energy loss can have a debilitating effect on human quality of life. The energy industry consists of thousands of companies producing renewable fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, and electricity from geothermal, hydropower, solar and wind. This sector is responsible for creating, storing, transporting, and distributing energy through a complex network of dams, reservoirs, pipelines and power grids. Every aspect of the US economy relies on energy, and this dependence on uninterrupted power and fuel makes this industry vulnerable to both kinetic and cyber threats.
Cybercriminals aren’t just interested in energy companies because of the ease with which they can evade scrutiny. Cybercriminals are also aware of the level of economic value this industry provides. In the absence of energy, a nation may see widespread economic disruption. As cyberattacks on energy infrastructure become more common, how can energy, resources, and industrial companies.
The challenges of improving the energy sector and grid security are not insurmountable. A framework that includes a comprehensive security architecture, strong communication, advanced processes, and other technical upgrades can measurably reduce risk levels. Improvements in the following areas can be particularly beneficial.
Advanced predictive intelligence engines can provide insight into the latest attack vectors and the latest hacking techniques. A security architecture with integrated AI can help organizations combat “known unknowns,” including emerging ransomware tools and coordinated multi-stage attacks.
As the industry continues to embrace digitization, industrial IoT, and more, the attack surface for the industry has also improved. The industry has everything an attacker could look for, from data to critical assets that can affect life. In turn, energy companies must prioritize cybersecurity.
Strategic threat intelligence gathering. Energy groups need to move away from a reactive mindset and towards a proactive, forward-looking threat reduction approach. In doing so, groups may want to adopt real-time threat intelligence solutions that are enriched with AI-based engines and pull data from hundreds of millions of sensors. A comprehensive security strategy. Siloed security activities can leave any organization vulnerable to threats. Cybersecurity decision makers need to adapt around the development of a comprehensive security strategy. In this context, organizations may want to provide visibility to all security teams of their entire IT/OT network and architecture (if not authority) to better detect trends in the event of a coordinated cyberattack. Safety culture first. Energy sector organizations should implement programs that can close operational gaps when it comes to communication and awareness. Security culture is top-down and everyone needs to receive clear and consistent messages that define cybersecurity as a shared responsibility. Everyone should be familiar with the processes and procedures involved in social engineering, cyber threats, and cybersecurity incidents. Whole-industry approach. Industry working groups and inter-agency partnerships have helped organizations cross-resource and know-how. They have helped organizations manage security scaling. But research shows that organizations continue to struggle with inter-agency collaboration.
The energy sector is crucial to our existence. Disruption of electricity grids and pipelines can devastate the economy. It’s affect would be seen in everything, food, transportation, jobs, manufacturing, hospitals, and heating and cooling everything. It is a top target for cyber crimes not only for financial reasons but also for statements, and control. Robotics, automation, machinery, IoT/IIoT, smart devices — it’s time to secure energy from threats, hackers, and risks.
Can Energy Industry Dynamics Create an Impending Cyberstorm, by Marsh, the global insurance and risk management group? More than one in four survey respondents are aware that their company suffered a damaging cyberattack in the past year, the report says. More than three-quarters (76%) of respondents are concerned that cyberattacks will disrupt their business operations, while a similar proportion (77%) are poised to increase the amount of investment they make to manage cyber risks.
Yet despite these fears about the impact of cyberattacks on production and revenues, more than half of the energy managers surveyed did not know or measure what their worst possible exposure might be. The Marsh research follows the January release of the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Risk Report: “Cyberattacks are perceived as the global risk of greatest concern to business leaders in advanced economies. “Cyber is seen by the broader risk community as the risk most likely to intensify in 2018, according to the risk perception survey that forms the basis of the Global Risks Report.”
Our goal is to help people in the best way possible. This is a basic principle in every case and cause for success. contact us today for a free consultation.
Sign up to our newsletter
