Empowering the Energy & Utilities Industry: Secure Access for the Digital Age

Cyolo PRO for Energy & Utilities

Energy and electricity are essential services that we rely on to power our homes and businesses, fuel our transportation systems, provide crucial medical services, and much more. Unfortunately, an increasing number of adversaries also recognize the value of the Energy & Utilities sector. These threat actors are accelerating their attacks on operational technology (OT) in order to disrupt operations, commit cyber-terrorism, and generally wreak havoc.

Protecting the industry from cyberattacks is crucial for several key reasons:

Energy Infrastructure is Critical Infrastructure: Energy infrastructure is considered critical infrastructure because the economy, as well as the safety and health of citizens, depends on the reliable delivery of power and energy. Cyberattacks can lead to extremely serious power and energy supply disruptions, and the consequences can be dire – with the potential for severe economic losses, damage to infrastructure, and even loss of life. Power and energy are so essential that infrastructure vulnerabilities can be considered a matter of national security.

Extreme Financial Risk: Successful cyberattacks are very expensive, and costs are only rising. The average cost of a data breach in the Energy & Utilities industry climbed to $4.78M in 2023, according to IBM. The financial fallout following a security incident includes not just the cost of resolving the attack but also losses due downtime, regulatory fines, and reputational damage.

Regulatory Pressures: The Energy & Utilities sector is one of the most heavily regulated industries result, organizations are under intense scrutiny, and failure to comply with industry, regional, and in the world. As a national regulations can result in heavy fines and penalties. NERC CIP in North America and the NIS2 Directive in the European Union are just two examples of relevant regulations.

Rising Complexity: The cyberthreat landscape is growing in complexity. Organizations in the Energy & Utilities space must contend with increasingly sophisticated threats as well as geopolitical uncertainties that can send risk skyrocketing. These same organizations also bear the brunt of the responsibility for decarbonizing and enabling a successful energy transition. This means accommodating more complex connections to the power grid and energy infrastructure, all while navigating a dynamic regulatory and policy landscape and minimizing risks to safety and security.

Against this backdrop, remote work, automation, progress toward Industry 4.0, and rising connectivity between OT and information technology (IT) are creating new opportunities as well as new vulnerabilities across the Energy & Utilities industry. Remote connectivity, as one example, reduces costs, improves operational agility, and lowers safety risks by enabling maintenance on power lines or the electrical grid to be conducted without traveling to distant or potentially dangerous locations. However, remote access creates its own security and safety risks that must be contained with the proper access, connectivity, and supervisory controls.

Cyolo PRO (Privileged Remote Operations) is an advanced Secure Remote Access solution designed to enable organizations in the Energy & Utilities industry to safely connect remote workers, third-party vendors, and privileged employees to even the most sensitive assets and environments.

Energy & Utilities Security Risks

The Energy & Utilities industry is deeply dependent on systems that are becoming more digitally connected. Connectivity lowers costs, increases efficiency, and decarbonizes the sector, but it also introduces new risks.

Robust cybersecurity will enable companies to fully enjoy the benefits of digital transformation and IT/OT convergence. But there is work to do, as 48% of of power and utilities CEOs said they believe a cyberattack is "inevitable.”

Energy Cybersecurity by the Numbers

• 42% of energy professionals think their organization’s current level of investment in cybersecurity is sufficient to ensure the resilience of their operational assets and infrastructure.

• 78% of energy professionals report that geopolitical uncertainty has increased their awareness of potential OT vulnerabilities.

• 89% of energy professionals believe cybersecurity to be a pre-requisite for digital transformation.

• 38% of energy professionals identify the lack of in-house cybersecurity skills as the most intractable barrier to maturity in the industry.

(Source: DNV, 2023)

Managing Access and Risks in Connected Energy & Utilities Companies

• Less than half (48%) of energy & utilities companies identify securing access to OT environments as a high priority.

• 74% of energy & utilities companies do not maintain an accurate, up-to-date inventory of the industrial assets in their OT environments.

• 43% of energy & utilities companies lack confidence that they’re effectively protecting their OT environments.

• 60% of energy & utilities companies grant OT systems access to more than 50 different vendors, and 21% give such access to more than 100 vendors.

(Source: Ponemon Institute and Cyolo, 2024)

Key Remote Privileged Access Use Cases for the Manufacturing Industry

1. Facilitate third-party remote access: Safely connect third-party vendors to OT environments for enhanced productivity.

2. Provide OEM access for fast, secure support: Ensure rapid, secure, and safe support and maintenance of diagnostics (M&D) for OT systems.

3. Manage critical and risky access: Secure, monitor, and control all connections to mission-critical assets, whether on-premise or remote.

4. Achieve regulatory compliance: Implement segmentation, supervision and other requirements of industry and regional compliance mandates.

Cyolo PRO: A Single Unified Solution with 3 Security Layers

Cyolo PRO's Unique Architecture Enables Maximum Flexibility

The light and adjustable Cyolo component can fit into any infrastructure or environment and always keeps your data safe and secure within your trusted boundaries.

Even in cloud-connected environments, data is routed only in an encrypted state, ensuring low latency and high levels of security.

Cyolo PRO Benefits

Case Study: How a Leading Energy Provider Ensures Secure Access to OT and SCADA Systems

About Cyolo

Cyolo is a leading cybersecurity innovator dedicated to providing cutting-edge access solutions. With a focus on security, operational agility, and user experience, Cyolo is fostering a transition from merely enabling access to empowering operations, productivity, and compliance.

Schedule a personalized demo to see the Cyolo PRO access solution in action.