Sixty eight percent of oil and gas companies in the U.S. encountered at least one cyber security attack in 2016, resulting in the loss of confidential information or operational technology disruption, a survey by Ponemon Institute released in February and sponsored by Siemens showed.
According to the survey findings, the deployment of cyber security measures in the industry is not keeping pace with the growth of digitalization in oil and gas operations.
More than 300 individuals who work in the oil and gas industry's downstream, upstream and midstream or in all of these took part in the survey.
The report noted that just 35 percent of respondents rate the cyber readiness of their organization's operational technologies as high to address threats.
The findings showed that 67 percent of respondents believe the risk level to industrial control systems over the past few years has substantially increased because of cyber threats.
Although oil and gas companies benefit from digitalization, it significantly increased cyber risks, according to 66 percent of respondents.
The report said that many organizations lack awareness of the operation technology cyber risk criticality or have a strategy to address it.
According to the survey, 61 percent of respondents say their organization鈥檚 industrial control systems protection and security is inadequate.
By Dilara Zengin
Anadolu Agency
dilara.zengin@aa.com.tr
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