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Report Warns Of Oil Rig Hacking
Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2009-08-26
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
If North Korean scientists, nerdy members of the Earth Liberation Front, or some other forces decide to disrupt the oil supply, they might need little more than a computer to pull off the stunt. A Norwegian research group has indicated that offshore oil rigs are becoming increasingly vulnerable to hacking.
 | | Report Warns Of Oil Rig Hacking |  |
According to SINTEF, the trouble lies in the oil companies' (understandable) desire to save money and protect people by automating the rigs. Greg Grant explained, "[V]ital operations -- everything from data transmission to drilling to sophisticated navigation systems that maintain the platform's position over the wellhead -- are controlled via wireless links to onshore facilities."
And those links, of course, aren't as easily secured as dials and levers that human beings need to have their hands on.
This could lead to some real problems. SINTEF scientist Martin Gilje Jaatun told Grant that viruses have already caused oil production losses and personnel injuries. It's not hard to imagine that oil rigs might be completely hijacked at some point in time.
Hopefully the existence of SINTEF's analysis will cause oil companies (who certainly don't want these problems to occur, either) to take another look at their platform security, though.
About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SecurityProNews, InternetFinancialNews, SearchNewz, and WebProNews.
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