What Are The Cyber Challenges Faced By The Oil And Gas Industry?

Cyber-attacks are rising as more and more industries and businesses are shifting operations and flourishing online. The oil and gas industry is no different, and it is rapidly digitizing its various sectors. With it, the risks of cybersecurity attacks on these industries also have increased manifolds.

An oil cyberattack or a gas cyberattack is convenient for a hacker due to various vulnerabilities, such as GPS systems onboard, dynamic positioning navigation, and internet facilities arrangement to an infrastructure that is mostly located offshore. All these facilities have some loopholes, and cyber criminals take advantage of these vulnerabilities with different intent like money, damage to reputation, disrupting operations, etc.

There have been several instances of attacks on the oil and gas industry, which have caused damage to a large extent. This enterprise faces many cybersecurity threats and challenges. To help you understand better, we have rounded up a few of them in the section below.

Challenges Faced By Cybersecurity In Oil and Gas Industry
Although this industry is taking countermeasures to prevent any possible cyberattack, it can still not overcome the challenges it faces while doing so. Let us take a closer look at the multiple obstacles it has to go through when it comes to cybersecurity.

Awareness And Training
It has been witnessed that most of the cyberattacks in the oil and gas industry resulted from one or the other human error. And the reason behind it is the lack of awareness and training, which is one of the biggest challenges faced by this industry. It is another ground taking advantage of which cyber criminals can easily execute an attack, especially on the offshore oil and gas fields. The lack of training in employees portrays an absence of a cybersecurity policy to prevent such attacks.

Absence Of Cybersecurity Policies
Having a clear and transparent cybersecurity policy is significant to prevent breaches and hacks. It also depends on the management of the various players in this sector to select and implement any available policy. Unclear guidelines are as good as null and void. The companies’ responsibility is to create strict security policies, sketching out plans to execute them, and ensuring that the proper procedures are being followed. Lack of monitoring such programs also leads to potential threats and attacks.

Out-of-date Control Systems
Research has found that the oil and gas industry’s industrial control systems are not up-to-date and cannot protect against modern cyberattacks. These systems are a favorite target for any oil cyberattack or gas cyberattack as it has the least amount of protection facility. Advanced threats can cause massive damage to the company and may harm its reputation and incur a financial loss. This industrial control system is undoubtedly stable but lacks an opportunity for an upgrade, which poses another significant challenge for cybersecurity in this sector.

Unclear Demarcation of IT And Industrial Networks
It is common for companies in the oil and gas industry to merge industrial control systems with wider networks to give and take data between the OT and IT domains. There is no denying that it lessens costs, but simultaneously it increases cyberattack risks by exposing the OT system’s vulnerabilities over the internet. Any breach or hack in this network has the potential to shut down the whole system altogether. Accessing internet services from an offshore facility also raises cyberattacks’ risks due to inadequate security.

Conclusion
So you see, an oil cyberattack or a gas cyberattack is nothing short of a piece of cake for a professional and an experienced cyber criminal. Taking advantage of the loopholes in the vast network is what they are good at. The need to have updated security systems has become the need of the hour for any business operating in the IT and OT domains. However, overcoming these challenges might help the industry build robust cybersecurity, which can be more reliable and secure. We hope we have been able to help you understand the various challenges faced by the oil and gas sector when it comes to their cybersecurity.