Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Electricity supports nearly every function of modern life: hospitals, water systems, transportation, communications, emergency services, financial systems, manufacturing, national defense, and, most importantly, streaming services. Kidding, but our most critical systems run on electricity, and that makes us vulnerable to attacks.

For oil and gas operators, operational technology (OT) is a lifeline, sometimes literally. OT systems are essential to maintaining not just reliable and efficient operations but also safe environments for workers. In upstream production sites, offshore platforms, pipelines, terminals and refineries, critical processes depend on a complex network of OT assets that organizations use to control and optimize operations. Cybersecurity programs for OT often focus heavily on prevention.

Picture Singapore’s largest telecommunications network. It carries the financial transactions, emergency communications, and government data of a city-state of nearly six million people. Now picture that infrastructure silently infiltrated for months by a state-linked espionage group, undetected until the telcos’ own security teams found it.

As cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure continue to evolve, the energy sector remains a prime target for malicious actors. Protecting the electric grid requires a strong regulatory framework and robust cybersecurity monitoring practices. In the United States, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) play key roles in safeguarding the power system against cyber risks.

Are the repeated warnings throughout the years taking effect? Although we would like to say they are, the answer is complex and, most likely, we aren’t quite there yet.

In the public sector, it’s not uncommon for disruptions of critical infrastructure to ripple outward and wreak major havoc on systems and communities whether the cause is a technical issue, a natural disaster, or a cyber attack. As critical infrastructure becomes more connected through distributed systems and IoT devices, the attack surface continues to expand.

Every defense contractor preparing for CMMC has the same expensive surprise: the third-party engineering firm with VPN access into one file server just doubled the size of their assessment. CMMC, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification that DoD will require on covered solicitations starting November 10, 2026, is scored against the systems that touch Controlled Unclassified Information, or CUI.

On April 28, 2025, a massive power outage affected large areas of the Iberian Peninsula and parts of southern France. Traffic lights, elevators, point-of-sale systems, and many mobile phone and internet networks suddenly stopped functioning. Subways and parts of the rail network ground to a halt. Industrial production and numerous service businesses were interrupted for several hours to a full day.

Critical infrastructure systems, such as power plants, water treatment plants, transportation networks, and factories, depend on operational technology (OT) to work. OT systems are designed to manage physical devices and processes, while traditional IT systems primarily focus on protecting data and information. Because of this difference, OT security is complex, especially as OT networks are increasingly linked to IT networks, making them more vulnerable to cyber threats.