Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

The energy sector has become a prime target for cyberattacks, with successful breaches posing severe risks to national security, economic stability, and public safety. Luckily, the industry is standing up and taking notice, with two-thirds of energy professionals (65%) now saying their leadership now sees cybersecurity as the greatest risk to their business.

America's critical infrastructure faces an unprecedented threat, and it's already installed in hundreds of locations across the nation. Recent investigations confirm that Chinese-manufactured power transformers—essential components of our electrical grid—have been discovered with hidden capabilities allowing remote shutdown from overseas. In summer 2019, federal authorities seized a massive 500,000-pound Chinese transformer at the Port of Houston.

Reliable energy is the backbone of any modern society. It powers our homes, industries, and economies. But what happens when this essential infrastructure becomes a target for cyberattacks? In Europe, the energy sector is facing an escalating threat landscape, with potentially dire consequences.

The UK’s ambition to become a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) marks a transformative era. However, the foundation of this progress—the energy sector—has emerged as a prime target for cybercriminals. While AI-driven technologies offer greater efficiency and resilience, they also heighten the sector’s vulnerability to cyberattacks. To sustain the nation’s AI advancements, ensuring the security of the energy infrastructure must be a critical priority.

Industrial facilities increasingly rely on interconnected systems to improve operations. As they implement these technologies into their legacy environments, they create new cybersecurity risks within previously isolated Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) by connecting them to public internet-facing applications.

Critical infrastructure organizations bear an enormous responsibility. The assets, systems, and networks they manage are crucial to the functioning of a healthy society. They provide water, energy, transportation, healthcare, telecommunications, and more—should they fail, they would bring entire countries to their knees. The vast importance of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) makes it a prime target for cybercriminals.

Why You Need to Take Back Control of User Access Now!

Xona Systems, a leading provider of secure access management solutions for critical infrastructure, is partnered with Barrier Networks, a managed security service provider for industrial organisations, to deliver a comprehensive, fully managed secure access solution for critical OT environments. The partnership combines Xona’s cutting-edge secure access platform with Barrier’s deep operational cyber security expertise.

In today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape, user access control is the single most important, foundational cybersecurity priority for critical infrastructure owners and operators. Attackers continue to exploit weaknesses including legacy remote access mechanisms, and the consequences are severe. A few indicative statistics of this priority include.