June 2017, Vol. 244, No. 6

Features

Challenge of Operational Cybersecurity, Threats to Pipelines

It was December 2011. Unbeknownst to anyone, seemingly innocuous emails began showing up in the accounts of U.S. oil and gas pipeline controls engineers and technicians. These were not just general spam emails. They targeted specific individuals across the country. Long before cybersecurity, malware, and ransomware had become buzz words, these little emails carried a hidden little software package called a Trojan. Just like the soldiers hidden in the Trojan horse of Greek legend, they were poised to attack as soon as they were turned loose. In this case, by the simple click of a mouse. This was well before the days of anti-virus software was everywhere and long before even the basics of cy