Memo regarding recent claims of pro-Russian hackers compromising Canadian energy assets
- Provision Infotech
- Apr 10, 2023
- 2 min read
In the last 24 hours it has been brought to the public’s attention that leaked Pentagon documents indicate that pro-Russian hackers claim to have fully compromised a Canadian Pipeline facility, caused an outage, and the company suffered monetary loss.
As of right now, the claims are unsubstantiated and there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical.
But while the claims of the ability to cause an explosion are far-fetched, the concept of unauthorized access to the automation systems of remote oil and gas facilities is not. Regardless of the authenticity of this claim, yet another spotlight is shining on the Cybersecurity aspect of the Canadian Oil and Gas industry, and an entire army of bad-actors has been given a new target to consider.
Provision Infotech did not set out to become an Industrial Cybersecurity company. Within our first 6 months of operation we were called upon to assist in the restoration and security of a gas-plant brought down by ransom-ware. As we continued to provide on-site service to many (now over 200) oil and gas facilities, we came to the realization that most process-control and SCADA networks were lacking in basic security and redundancy. It has become our mission to protect the Canadian Energy Industry.
To this end, we have developed the following array of services:
Industrial Cybersecurity and resiliency assessments – focused around an “On-Site” analysis of a facility - including all remote access methods and packet-level analysis of control traffic
Systems design and remediation planning and on-site execution
Emergency on-site response to Cybersecurity incidents or systems failure
Development and implementation of Operations-focused Cybersecurity programs and Cyber-ERP exercises
Development and presentation of materials for communication to Boards of Directors
Whether you are a client of ours already, or if you are meeting us for the first time, we would be happy to discuss the security of your production facilities. While it could be argued that we generate more income responding to an emergency than preventing one, we believe in the Canadian Energy Industry and we want to help it succeed. We will always prefer the ounce of prevention to the pound of cure.
Please read the following news articles for more details:
John Sadowski
President
Provision Infotech Inc
