The oil and gas industry has significantly awakened to spruce up production and meet the skyrocketing demand for fossil sources of energy. One of the evolutionary changes that have been rolled out within this industry so far is digital technology. The various applications of digital technology in the oil and gas industry enables oil exploration companies to achieve better production output and better control of the entire oil mining and refining process. Digitization of the oil and gas industry has led to significant concerns relating to cybersecurity.
One of the key issues of concern in the oil and gas industry relates to the lack of awareness of cybersecurity. Key industry players, including employees and their managers, are not well versed with cybersecurity as one of the key concerns of digitization of the industry. This implies that workers can involuntarily expose themselves and their companies to cyber insecurity.
The second major cybersecurity concern today relates to the increased demand and need for sharing data among key industry players. The data collected in the field during oil exploration is availed and shared with various stakeholders for processing purposes. The multiple data handling parties involved in such a case increases the chances of infiltration of data handling and storage networks.
Thirdly, with the concept of digitization in the oil and gas industry relatively new, the different data handlers may lack the technical knowledge and skills on how to uphold safe data handling procedures. For instance, mobile phones have been increasingly utilized as devices for data handling. These mobile phones and devices are not fitted with the necessary cyber safety software to prevent illegal third-party access.
Cybersecurity in the oil and gas industry is a major point of concern, especially given the increased potency of cyber-infiltration attacks today. Hackers have a wide range of options on what to do immediately after making a cyber-infiltration into a company’s network. Oil mining and refining companies have to beware of their reputation as they are a major soft spot target for cybercriminals.
Cybersecurity in the Oil and Gas IndustryWith these companies holding sensitive data on their external relations and potential political links, cybercriminals can orchestrate a major ransomware attack with the intent of damaging their reputation. The threats to leak out sensitive information can also cause cybercriminals to hold these companies at ransom for financial gains.