Hydrocarbon Processing - October 2021 - 21

Cybersecurity
M. PARSONS, Sungard Availability Services, Aurora,
Colorado; and R. CORSO, Sungard Availability Services,
Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania
How HPI companies can protect against
ransomware and other cyber threats
Ransomware has become an epidemic, and critical infrastructure
is in the crosshairs. The Colonial Pipeline ransomware
attack should be a wakeup call for every company in the
hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI).
From 2019-2020, the number of ransomware attacks in
North America increased by 158%.
Critical infrastructure organizations, especially those relying
on Internet of Things (IoT) devices, are prime targets
for hackers looking to cause the kind of massive disruption
that incentivizes companies to quickly pay ransoms.
Ransomware data breaches and nation-state attacks,
among others all pose a risk that industrial companies cannot
afford to ignore. No matter where your cybersecurity
practices stand presently, there are several actions companies
can take to avoid becoming the next victim.
Implement zero trust. Start with a zero-trust policy. Assume
every IoT device and everything else touching your
network is unsecure. A zero-trust policy restricts the access
these devices have to the rest of the network, granting access
only based on business functionality.
Missing this step is one of the biggest mistakes companies
make. Organizations often race to deploy new technologies
and take shortcuts to speed up the process, assuming they
will circle back later to lock down security. However, this
rarely happens.
A zero-trust policy ensures that any unsecure devices or
software cannot become a hacker's foothold into the rest of
your network.
Segment and air gap your backups. Segment your network
and implement controls to prevent the ransomware
from spreading across your enterprise and limit the impact
should it be hit with an attack.
Air gap your backups so they remain safe, even if ransomware
starts spreading on your network. This will ensure a
way to restore systems without paying the ransom.
Make sure you have the cybersecurity basics in
place. Change the default login credentials on all devices.
Use strong passwords. Keep up with firmware updates and
software patches. Stay up-to-date on emerging threats and
educate employees on them. Look up each device on your
network to see if there are any known vulnerabilities and
track any new ones that are discovered.
Lastly, make sure you encrypt all data, both at rest and in
flight.
Add more advanced detection and protection. Implement
intrusion prevention systems that actively block malicious
traffic, and web application firewalls to add additional
detection and protection at the application layer.
Log every event in your network, systems and storage,
and use artificial intelligence and machine learning to examine
the log data for suspicious activity and traffic patterns.
These tools can alert you of any unusual activity that may
indicate a security breach.
Prepare for the worst. Perform a business impact analysis
to understand the implications a ransomware attack would
have on your organization, including what it would cost,
what functionality you would lose, how it would affect customers,
etc. Then, refine and test your business continuity
plan and incident response plan accordingly.
Make sure you have a disaster recovery (DR) plan that air
gaps backups so you can restore all your data in an isolated
bubble, perform forensic investigations and bring your environment
back up in your DR environment.
Educate employees. Ongoing employee education on security
practices can help avoid common cybersecurity mishaps
and elevate the importance of security across your organization.
Train
employees in various security protocols and have
them sign off on information security policies annually. Ensure
developers are building applications with cybersecurity
in mind from the start and validate it before it goes into production.
The
elevated importance of security. Ransomware attacks
on industrial and critical infrastructure have only just
begun. As ransomware continues to be lucrative and effective
for hackers, the attacks will only continue to increase in
number, severity and complexity.
Now is the time to review your security practices and take
steps to ensure you do not become the next victim.
LITERATURE CITED
1
Jeffey, L. and V. Ramachandran, " Why ransomware attacks are on the rise-and
what can be done to stop them, " PBS.org, July 8, 2021, online: https://www.pbs.
org/newshour/nation/why-ransomware-attacks-are-on-the-rise-and-what-canbe-done-to-stop-them
2
Lee,
N., " As the U.S. faces a flurry of ransomware attacks, experts warn the
peak is likely still to come, " CNBC, June 10, 2021, online: https://www.cnbc.
com/2021/06/10/heres-how-much-ransomware-attacks-are-costing-the-american-economy.html
Hydrocarbon
Processing | OCTOBER 2021 21

http://www.PBS.org https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/why-ransomware-attacks-are-on-the-rise-and-what-can-be-done-to-stop-them https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/why-ransomware-attacks-are-on-the-rise-and-what-can-be-done-to-stop-them https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/why-ransomware-attacks-are-on-the-rise-and-what-can-be-done-to-stop-them https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/10/heres-how-much-ransomware-attacks-are-costing-the-american-economy.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/10/heres-how-much-ransomware-attacks-are-costing-the-american-economy.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/10/heres-how-much-ransomware-attacks-are-costing-the-american-economy.html

Hydrocarbon Processing - October 2021

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