The energy sector is the cornerstone of modern infrastructure, powering essential services and supporting the daily operations of economies worldwide. However, it also faces unique cybersecurity challenges, particularly in complying with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) standards.

As we enter 2025, the frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks on critical national infrastructure (CNI) in the US are rising at an alarming rate. These attacks target the foundational systems that support everything from energy and water to transportation and communications, and the consequences are far-reaching and potentially catastrophic. They impact not just the operations of these services but also the very way of life for affected populations.

Open-source software (OSS) has become an indispensable component in many industrial environments. Just last year, 95% of companies said they increased or maintained their use of OSS. According to the Linux Foundation, 70-80% of all code in any modern solution has been directly plucked from OSS solutions,. Cost-efficiency, flexibility, and expansive development community make OSS an attractive option for many organizations looking to innovate while managing budgets.

Critical infrastructure systems, such as power plants, water treatment plants, transportation networks, and factories, depend on operational technology (OT) to work. OT systems are meant to handle physical devices and processes, while traditional IT systems are mostly concerned with keeping data and information safe. Because of this main difference, OT security is very hard, especially since OT networks are becoming more and more linked to IT networks, which makes them more open to cyber dangers.

As we discussed in the first article in this series, there are many Internet-exposed control systems, but they are very different from traditional IT systems and require a different security approach. With these systems being so critical and controlling processes that can potentially lead to loss of life if they fail, what is being done to tackle this issue? In this article I’ll dive into this and more, looking at.

Cybersecurity threats to manufacturing and process plants come from a wide range of attack vectors, including supply chain, logistics, enterprise computing, remote connections, operator stations, programmable logic controllers, distributed control systems (DCSs), smart sensors, and new smart devices. Internet of Things (IoT) technologies offer greater connectivity and endless applications, but they make the cybersecurity landscape more complex.

In recent years, the security of the United States' critical infrastructure has become a pressing concern, particularly in the oil and gas sector, due to its pivotal role in the nation's economy and energy supply. Recognizing this, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) implements several new directives in July each year aimed at enhancing the security and resilience of vital energy infrastructure against various threats, including cyber-attacks and physical disruptions.

Cybersecurity's role in geopolitics is growing more significant by the day. In a world of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, governments worldwide are recognizing the impact digital attacks can have on national security, trade, and infrastructure. This has never been more evident than with the recent introduction of the Protecting Investments in Our Ports Act by U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Gary Peters (D-MI), along with U.S.

On October 16th, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE), the Australian Federal Police (AFP), and Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC) issued an urgent advisory warning security teams about the use of Brute Force and other techniques by Iranian threat actors to compromise critical infrastructure ent