14 DAY TRIAL // IT security company Alert Logic has released a report called “State of Cloud Security Bulletin: Information Security in the Energy Sector.” The new study shows that organizations from the energy sector should be particularly concerned about the threat of cyberattacks.
There are several factors that make the energy sector more vulnerable and more of a tempting target. First of all, organizations from this area possess highly valuable information.
However, because of the prevalence of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend and because of contractors that have access to their systems, attackers have a lot of means of compromising it.
“The energy sector is a big part of the global economy and therefore has extremely high-stakes security risks compared to other industries,” stated Stephen Coty, director, security research with Alert Logic.
“Daily survival of the population and businesses alike depend on the availability of energy resources, making energy companies a prime target for hackers. This Security Bulletin calls out the specific threats to energy companies and provides recommendations for fine tuning existing information security defenses.”
The figures from the report show that the energy sector is more often targeted than other industries. For instance, 34% of all the organizations that took part in Alert Logic’s six-month study experienced brute force attacks. However, 64% of energy companies were targeted in such cybercriminal operations.
When it comes to malware or botnet attacks, the figures paint an even clearer picture. While the average across the entire customer set is 13%, 61% of energy companies reported being targeted in malware/botnet infiltration attacks.
“Unlike an attack on an e-Commerce site or SaaS application provider, a malware infiltration attack on an energy company could grow to catastrophic proportions if hackers were able to block or flood the oil and gas pipeline infrastructure,” Coty added.
“This industry doesn't see the typical web application attacks. It experiences a greater magnitude of security threats that could have global repercussions for years to come.”
The complete “State of Cloud Security Bulletin: Information Security in the Energy Sector” report is available on Alert Logic’s website.