On average, the cost of a data breach rose by 10% from 2020 to 2021. The energy industry ranked fifth in data breach costs, surpassed only by the health care, financial, pharmaceutical and technology verticals, according to the 17th annual Cost of a Data Breach Report. Some energy cybersecurity measures can help reduce the cost of a data breach in a big way. For example, take a look at zero trust deployments, artificial intelligence and automation.
It’s important to better understand data security in this growing and crucial field. Take a look at some recent data breaches that affected energy and utility providers. What data security risks and challenges are unique to these sectors?
What Is a Data Breach in the Energy and Utilities Industries?
The energy sector includes oil and gas companies, alternative energy producers and suppliers and utility providers such as electric companies. Energy cybersecurity breaches and failures can have tremendous impacts. They even go beyond the cost to the companies that mine for oil or gas or provide energy to customers. After all, people rely on these services for nearly every aspect of life.
Compromised Password Leads to Gas Shortages
This type of problem joined the United States’ many other challenges in spring 2021. An attacker gained remote access to the network of a major U.S. pipeline company via an employee’s virtual private network (VPN). The VPN was not even in use at the time. However, it remained open for threat actors to use it as a gateway to the company’s main network. The attacker found the password used to access the account on a list of leaked passwords on the dark web. report breach energy utilities
