The oil and gas sector is facing a growing threat of cyber-attacks as technology changes the industry and hackers seek new targets.
“Like many industries, oil and gas has undergone a revolution in the last few years,” Dominick Hoare, chief underwriting officer of
Munich Re Syndicate told Insurance Business, pointing to the increased use of technology and robotics in the sector.
Increased connectivity, sensitivity of data, unmanned operations and complex royalty payment structures for onshore operators are driving increased exposure in the cyber space for the industry, which is inherently complex.
While not widely reported in mainstream media, the number of cyberattacks on companies in the sector has been growing in the last five years, Hoare said. In 2014 alone, 300 oil and energy companies in Norway were hit by one of the biggest cyberattacks ever to have happened in the country. The world’s biggest oil company, Saudi Aramco, was hit in 2012 by what has been called the world’s biggest cyber-attack – which saw tens of thousands of the company’s computers wiped out in one swoop.
To date, hackers have typically focused on sectors which hold large, lucrative volumes of information, such as retail, but as those industries become more savvy and tighten up on security, cyber criminals may be looking for the “next weak point,” Hoare warned.
The oil and gas sector is also a more obvious target for politically motivated attacks, due to its role in critical infrastructure as well as the controversy over environmental issues such as fracking.
With the “heightened awareness” around the growing threat of cyberattacks on the industry, and as automation and integration expose the sector to new vulnerabilities, Munich Re has launched a new product which it says will “compliment companies’ contingency measures” to ensure that they are well prepared should a cyber incident occur.
The coverage will bring together expert understanding of both the oil and gas industry and cyber exposures to create a product that is backed by “unique” expertise in the market, according to Hoare.
Aimed at the mid-market, independent sector, the product offers broad coverage and competitive pricing, and will encompass both traditional data breaches and any physical loss or expense associated with a potential cyberattack.
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