US pipelines wake up to cyberthreats after Colonial shutdown exposes vulnerabilities

Capitol Crude: The US Energy Policy Podcast

Will the cyberattack that forced the largest US oil pipeline to shut down for days be a wake-up call for the industry to rapidly shore up its cyber defenses?

On this special episode, we have two interviews from cybersecurity experts. Both say they were not entirely surprised by the attack on the Colonial Pipeline, as they have witnessed the oil and gas sector be slower to adopt cyber security programs than counterparts in the utility sector.

Leo Simonovich, global head of industrial cyber at Siemens Energy, returns to Capitol Crude after joining us last year, when he made the case that the industry's digital transformation was being accelerated by the pandemic and that it was compounding cyber risks.

John Cusimano, vice president of industrial cybersecurity at aeSolutions, explains the challenges that pipeline networks face in guarding against attacks.