(Calgary) Cybersecurity experts say they are not surprised by the revelation, contained in a set of leaked US intelligence documents, that hackers, backed by Russia, managed to gain access to the natural gas distribution network of the Canada.
According to these experts, the oil and gas industry is an attractive target for those seeking to engage in cyber espionage and sabotage. But they also believe that the likelihood of hackers succeeding in disrupting energy supplies or injuring people or property through an oil and natural gas-related cyberattack remains very low.
Lesley Carhart, director of incident response for North America at industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos, says that even if a hacker manages to gain access to an oil or gas company’s computer servers, it could take years of monitoring. so that he learns enough about company processes and internal security safeguards to actually cause an incident.
“There’s a big difference between having access to a computer, in the industrial world, and knowing how to get it to do physical things,” Carhart pointed out.
“Criminal groups access industrial facilities frequently. But just pushing buttons isn’t necessarily going to cause anything significant. »
The apparent posting of Pentagon documents on social media sites recently appeared to detail US and NATO operations in Ukraine, but also contained a claim by Russian-backed hackers that they managed to gain access to the Canada’s natural gas infrastructure.
The leaked documents do not name a specific company. The Canadian Press has not independently verified the claims.
Geoffrey Cann, a British Columbia-based author and speaker specializing in digital issues affecting the oil and gas industry, pointed out that Canada’s energy sector is regularly targeted by cybercriminals for financial gain as well as state-sponsored hackers hoping to wreak havoc.
“It would have been amazing if they didn’t target Canadian infrastructure, because they routinely target energy infrastructure around the world,” he said.
“And the industry is very aware of that. This is a subject that is discussed at board level. »