The oil and gas industry relies heavily on industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) to manage vast global exploration, production, and distribution networks. However, this reliance on technology makes the industry vulnerable to cybersecurity risks. The US Government Accountability Office has detailed significant cybersecurity risks to offshore oil and gas infrastructure, including threat actors, legacy system vulnerabilities, and potential environmental impacts.
The OT SCADA systems used to monitor and control physical equipment on thousands of remote sites have multiple known security flaws (CVEs). These flaws could allow attackers to remotely control critical safety functions, posing a severe threat to operational resilience and lead directly to environmental disasters. These risks spread across the entire oil and gas lifecycle, from upstream exploration and production to midstream transportation, storage, and distribution and downstream distribution and sale.
There is a solution that can mitigate entire classes of risk for Oil and Gas OT networks. Vulnerable critical systems can be cloaked from reconnaissance. Passwordless secure remote access removes phishing as an initial vector, especially leakage from IT networks. Thousands of systems can be securely connected, yet segmented to prevented from unwanted lateral movement.
BlastShield is easily deployed on existing Oil and Gas networks built with traditional firewalls and VPN solutions. It is a simple migration without changing IT or OT network architecture, re-addressing, or complicated network segmentation projects. Installing and administering the solution takes less time and effort than comparable solutions that require network changes and often fundamentally change how remote workers operate. The user experience is similar to Apple Pay, with simple biometric authentication granting access to only the devices the user needs.
BlastShield implements layered IEC 62443 security controls within operational technology networks and delivers several benefits:
BlastShield provides a Zero Trust gateway to the OT environment, where Industrial control systems, PLCs, IEDs, RTUs, turbine controllers, valves, and loT devices remain in service for decades, long after vendors halt support. These systems often cannot be patched but require access to internal monitoring systems. BlastShield protects these systems from discovery by hackers by creating a virtual air gap with Network Cloaking, only allowing passwordless Secure Remote Access to the devices and leveraging software-defined microsegmentation of different device types to prevent lateral movement within an existing flat Layer 2 network.
The BlastShield solution combines the functionality of a cloaking firewall, Site-to-Site VPN, Remote Access VPN, Virtual Air Gap, SD-LAN, and Device/Biometric Authentication into a Zero Trust OT Perimeter Cybersecurity system.
Learn more or schedule a demo: www.blastwave.com/schedule-a-demo
BlastWave securely connects Industrial Control Systems, Operational Technology, and Critical Infrastructure networks with Zero Trust Protection and delivers industrial-grade cybersecurity with consumer-grade ease-of-use.
Understand how BlastShield™ offers a simple, effective, and cost-efficient way to protect oil & gas systems.
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