Oil Industry Teams Up to Fight Cyber-Crime

International certification body DNV GL revealed Thursday that it is collaborating with A/S Norske Shell, Statoil ASA, Lundin Petroleum, Siemens, Honeywell, ABB, Emerson and Kongsberg Maritime to develop an industry best practice for addressing the cybercrime threat.

Cybercrimes cost energy and utilities companies an average of $12.8 million each year in lost business and damaged equipment, said DNV GL. To address the challenge, DNV GL’s Joint Industry Project (JIP) will produce a guideline for protecting oil and gas instalations against cyber-security threats.

The IEC 62443 standard will be used, but will be tailored to the oil and gas industry, according to DNV GL. The standard defines what to do, while the guideline will describe how. It is hoped that the JIP will result in a reduced risk of cyber-security incidents, cost-savings for operators, contractors and vendors and simplified audits for authorities and auditors.

“Dealing with cyber-security challenges has become a key focus area for the oil and gas sector. Attacks are becoming increasingly costly and harder for companies to recover from. This JIP will lower the risk of cyber-security incidents and trim costs for operators, contractors and vendors by reducing the resources needed to define requirements and by driving a standardized approach,” said Pål Børre Kristoffersen, principal consultant at DNV GL – Oil & Gas.

“We see that cyber-security incidents are increasing with attempted attacks on a daily basis,” said Rune Wærstad, control and automation engineer at Shell.

“By collaborating with others in the industry, we can ensure that we end up with one globally applicable regulation that is suitable for the oil and gas sector,” he added.

The JIP will result in a Recommended Practice (RP) for Industrial Automation and Control Systems in 12 months' time, according to DNV GL. The company has invited other oil and gas firms to join the program.



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