TALKING
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
Three cybersecurity best
practice guidelines for the oil
and gas industry
The scale of the Industrial
Internet of Things (IIoT)
utilised by the oil and gas
industry poses a growing
cyber-risk. Schneider
Electric offers three
best practice guidelines
to minimise the threat
of cyberattack-driven
disruptions to business
continuity.
22
INTELLIGENTCIO
K
uwait is a major oil supplier with oil
comprising nearly half of its GDP
and around 95% of its exports. The
country holds around 7% of global oil
reserves and produces about 3.150 million
barrels per day. their cost of downtime in the millions of
dollars per hour. When a plant shuts down
unexpectedly, it takes three to four days to
get everything started up again. These are
sobering business continuity-related lost
revenue numbers.
Unsurprisingly, cybercriminals are keen to
exploit the industry and siphon off some of
the vast profits it produces. The more connected nature of oil and gas
operations, driven largely by the Industrial
Internet of Things (IIoT) and related
digitalisation trends, although beneficial
to bottom lines, introduces an element of
cyber-risk that should be addressed. In fact,
inaction is not an option. Cybersecurity is
now a cost of doing business. The question
is, what is the optimal approach?
Cyberattacks cost companies worldwide
an estimated US$300–400 billion each
year in unanticipated downtime and that
number is projected to increase sharply.
Some large industrial organisations estimate
www.intelligentcio.com