Revised date: 9/11/25
As a foundational global industry, the oil and gas sector is valued at over $6 trillion and is essential for powering other industries, transportation, and a large portion of the global economy. Like many other critical sectors, however, its rapid growth amid the digital transformation of operational technology (OT) and IT introduce new challenges and risks to newly connected systems.
Chief among these risks is the new exposure to cyberattacks. When new OT devices are brought online, traditional IT security measures—which aren’t designed for the proprietary protocols and specifications for an OT environment—will not stop sophisticated threat actors from causing potentially severe disruptions.
And now, the stakes are higher than ever. Ransomware attacks within the industrial sector jumped by 46% in just Q4 2024 to Q1 2025, and credential-stealing malware attacks rose by 3,000% in the same period.
In a sector that has such little tolerance for operational downtime, leaders in oil and gas are faced with unique challenges in this newly connected world.
5 Critical Cybersecurity Challenges in Oil and Gas
The oil and gas industry faces several challenges in cybersecurity that, if left unchecked, carry consequences that range from critical equipment failure to financial and reputational damage.
Ransomware and extortion
As mentioned above, ransomware attacks on oil and gas are increasing in both frequency and sophistication. One such attack made international headlines in 2024 when an unidentified group hit the US oil giant Halliburton with ransomware, forcing the company to take its systems offline for several days. Though the energy sector as a whole reported no significant impact on energy services, the attack on such a large organization underscores how serious the threat landscape currently is.
Vulnerable OT equipment
Much of the oil and gas industry relies on outdated and legacy OT systems that were never designed with network connectivity in mind. This presents issues on multiple fronts, as these systems often have unpatched vulnerabilities, outdated software, and weak security controls. The result is an expanded attack surface that threat actors can easily exploit.
Supply chain risks:
The oil and gas industry is a vast, complex web of third-party vendors, suppliers, and contractors; many of these third parties have access to enterprise networks. An attack on a vendor with fewer security measures can often provide a backdoor entry point to a major company’s network, causing a cascading effect of exploited vulnerabilities, which can spell trouble for the oil and gas supply chain on a global level.
AI-powered threats
There’s been plenty of chatter about artificial intelligence (AI) in the news cycle almost every day in 2025. With generative AI, threat actors can craft extremely convincing phishing emails and other schemes to lure employees into helping them in an attack. Oftentimes, these methods are hard to spot, which only adds to the threat level in play.
Secure remote access
As new levels of connectivity continue to revolutionize the industry, many oil and gas companies are turning to remote monitoring of equipment. This is a huge advantage for an industry that’s so geographically dispersed, with rigs being located anywhere from in the middle of an ocean to a remote desert. In turn, secure remote access to sites has proven to increase efficiency and save on costly on-site visits, but it also creates security gaps if not rolled out properly.
How an OT Cybersecurity Strategy Can Help the Oil and Gas Industry
To protect enterprise networks within the oil and gas industry, companies need to shift from a reactive approach to cybersecurity to a more proactive approach. Since traditional IT security measures are ineffective in safeguarding an OT environment, CISOs and other high-level decision makers would be well-served to follow these recommendations when reevaluating their security posture.
Gain deep visibility of all OT assets
You can’t protect what you can’t see. A comprehensive inventory of all devices within your OT environment is essential to being able to defend them against cyber attacks. From there, you can start to understand how these devices communicate, what protocols they’re using, and how to best protect them.
Also worth noting: Many internet of things (IoT) devices don’t come with their own built-in security measures, and many employees and third parties use those to log into enterprise networks. When those devices aren’t discovered, they present even more security gaps.
Implement network segmentation
As the IT/OT convergence continues to reshape the industry, security teams should establish clear separation between IT and OT networks. This way, companies can contain a breach to one environment and seal off the attacker. Additionally, this prevents the attacker from being able to move laterally across the network and do even more damage.
Leverage threat detection
Specialized solutions that are designed to detect anomalies in an OT environment are another critical must-have. Attacks on OT won’t be detected by IT security measures such as firewalls. With a solution that’s built for understanding the unique behaviors of OT devices, companies can spot anything from a rogue insider to a sophisticated ransomware attack before it hits.
Enable secure remote access
The oil and gas industry is geographically dispersed, underscoring the need for a secure remote access solution. It’s simply not feasible to get personnel on every platform and every offshore drilling site. Two good starting points for secure remote access in such environments: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) and a least-privilege or zero trust access model. These additional measures require a user to verify their identity before every login attempt, minimizing the risk of a breach through stolen credentials.
The Solution for Oil and Gas Cybersecurity
Securing the OT environments that underpin oil and gas operations and infrastructure is not an easy task. As digital transformation soars and IT increasingly integrates with OT systems, the oil and gas industry faces more challenges to their critical infrastructure than ever. That’s why Claroty has created a portfolio of oil and gas cybersecurity solutions to help companies address these challenges.
Claroty helps oil and gas companies secure their OT environments with one comprehensive platform, reducing tool sprawl and increasing operational efficiency.
OT Asset Visibility
First, Claroty assists companies in gaining visibility into all cyber-physical systems (CPS) within their OT environment. Asset visibility is foundational to industrial cybersecurity — which is why all segments of oil and gas must attain a comprehensive, real-time inventory of their assets across all drilling sites, platforms, pipelines, plants, and refineries.
Exposure Management
Beyond simply identifying each asset, prioritizing the ones with the greatest potential business impact is key. It's important for this to be done in a way that highlights the specific attack vectors relevant to each asset, allowing oil and gas companies to address these vulnerabilities effectively.
Threat Detection
Purpose-built monitoring for OT environments can go a long way to stopping attacks before they start. With an expanded attack surface as large as the one created by IT/OT convergence, this is another must-have in your revamped cybersecurity strategy. A solution that also reduces false positives is ideal because it helps security teams focus on and prioritize the most vulnerable assets without chasing down non-issues.
Secure Remote Access
A huge part of this purpose-built strategy is to find a secure remote access solution that’s specifically tailored to OT environments. Generic VPNs and jump servers are simply not enough anymore. Ideally, this solution would also provide your organization with actionable recommendations based on the unique threats to each asset in your OT environment—which is exactly what the Claroty Platform does.
Claroty empowers oil and gas companies to protect their critical infrastructure and establish a purpose-built oil and gas cybersecurity strategy unique to their companies needs. Additionally, Claroty also helps companies comply with industry standards and regulations, which is a complex and ever-evolving endeavor for oil and gas. With unprecedented visibility and complete control of your oil and gas companies OT environments, you can ensure that standards and regulations are met, industry challenges are reduced, and major cybersecurity incidents are prevented.
Schedule a demo with one of our experts to learn how the Claroty Platform can help you keep your oil and gas environment safe.
