Natural Resources
Natural Resources
Natural resources companies—whether operating in oil and gas, mining, or utilities—with a presence in the US and/or EU face formidable OT security challenges due to the highly distributed, remote, and hazardous nature of its operations.
These environments rely heavily on OT systems such as SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), distributed control systems (DCS), and remote terminal units (RTUs) to monitor and control critical processes across pipelines, rigs, refineries, and extraction sites.
Many of these systems were designed decades ago for reliability and safety—not cybersecurity—making them vulnerable to modern threats like ransomware, state-sponsored sabotage, and supply chain intrusions.
The consequences of a cyberattack can be severe, including environmental damage, operational downtime, physical harm, and national security implications.
Regulatory pressures are also intensifying, with frameworks like the US TSA Pipeline Security Directives, NERC CIP standards for energy, and the EU’s NIS2 Directive requiring robust risk management, continuous monitoring, and incident response capabilities.
The use of Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices and cloud-connected analytics further expands the attack surface, particularly in remote or hard-to-secure environments.
To mitigate these risks, natural resources companies must implement a resilient OT security strategy focused on asset visibility, network segmentation, secure remote access, and a strong cyber-physical incident response capability—while aligning with global compliance standards and ensuring operational continuity in critical infrastructure.