Writing Resources
Unlike cyber attacks in corporate organizations such as banks and retails establishments attacks in the digital oilfield can be very hazardous potentially causing loss of view operation or damage to critical infrastructure as well as to the environment Examples of potentially hazardous situations that could result from cyber security breaches in the digital oilfield include A disgruntled employee who takes advantage of vulnerabilities in the system and disables pipeline safety monitoring system which increases pipeline pressure beyond a safe limit resulting in a rupture and consequent hydrocarbon release into the environment with serious health and safety implications A malware configured to changing field device parameters causing a process upset and facility shutdown Increasing decreasing motor speed or Closing opening motorized valves inadvertently A worm causes loss of view and loss of control in a digital oilfield control room or causes the system to display fake process flow diagrams and process alarms to the operators human machine interfaces HMI Virus disrupts a drilling rig dynamic positioning system or a worm disables the mission and safety critical drilling control system in a digital oilfield causing loss of millions of dollars in drilling costs and company revenue Inadequate security measures results in confidential drilling information to be released to wrong client and as a result the oil company losses significant competitive advantage Worm disables fiscal metering system resulting in bunkering and loss of sales revenue A Malware infection may cause a denial of service
