American Gas - October 2012 - (Page 24)

T E C H N O L O G Y U P D AT E S & A D V A N C E S TECH TALK Protecting the Net Stopping hackers is vital to protecting the nation’s energy infrastructure T KEN STIER is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based writer specializing in science, technology, and industry policy. he first indication that the gas industry was being targeted for cyber attacks was in 2009, when at least a half-dozen leading global energy companies were hacked. The operation, later dubbed Night Dragon, aimed to purloin sensitive exploration and production information, and was part of what the computer security firm McAfee called “the systemic long-term compromise of the Western oil and gas industry.” A broader “intrusion campaign,” specifically targeting U.S. gas pipeline companies, was launched last December and continued into 2012, prompting the Department of Homeland Security to issue at least three confidential “amber” alerts—second only to red alerts in the DHS’s industrial warning system. To date no malicious activity has been detected from these hacks, and no damage has been reported to the nearly 1.5 million miles of energy pipelines in the U.S. But because the infiltrators, eventually traced to the Chinese city of Heze, in some cases reached control systems, the security of gas pipelines— part of the country’s energy infrastructure and hence a matter of national security—is once again a prominent public policy issue. Incoming AGA Chairman (and Questar CEO) Ronald Jibson is making cybersecurity a “top priority” issue for the membership, which is being asked to subscribe to an evolving action plan in order to be better prepared for a range of threats from a widening array of “threat actors.” One of the federal government’s top cybersecurity experts, Eric Cornelius of DHS, addressed the AGA’s executive committee in mid-August. Among the recommendations the 24 AMERICAN GAS OCTOBER 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Gas - October 2012

American Gas - October 2012
Contents
President’s Message
Industry News
In the Know
Safety First
Tech Talk
Keep the Lights On
Buyer’s Guide 2012
Places to Be
Jobline
Advertisers’ Index
Noteworthies
Marketplace
Facts on Gas

American Gas - October 2012