SMi's 4th Oil and Gas Cyber Security conference, taking place on 3-4 June in Oslo, Norway will feature project updates provided by global Oil and Gas companies.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, March 14, 2014 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The oil and gas sector is rapidly evolving to meet increased demand by expanding asset portfolios and updating infrastructure. To support these industry changes, technology is advancing and infrastructural processes are being transformed - improved interconnectivity between business systems and networks within the oil and gas infrastructure setting are enhancing operations, but also exposing new avenues for system threats and vulnerabilities. Cyber attacks in the oil and gas industry can have detrimental effects on process control networks and related systems which could destabilise supply capabilities, endanger personnel and result in environmental damage. New vulnerabilities have been introduced with the migration to IT components such as general-purpose computing platforms, standard operating systems, in addition to the introduction of networking technology like TCP/IP & Ethernet in the SCADA environment and integration of business and process control networks.

Furthermore, cyber security incidents worldwide are increasing daily and one of the most vulnerable sectors is oil and gas where over 2 million threats of varying complexity are experienced weekly. Cyber criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated, highly organised and constantly inventing ways to bypass traditional defences such as anti-virus and firewalls. With such attacks increasing in frequency and sophistication, oil and gas companies are faced with an urgent need to protect their highly valuable intellectual property and commercially sensitive information. Against this backdrop, oil and gas companies now are heavily investing in establishing the most comprehensive security systems for their assets and digital infrastructures, with spending set to reach $1.87 billion by 2018. Managing security of networks and wireless communication systems, as well as defending IT infrastructure from external virus attacks and internal compatibility threats is a top priority.

SMi's 4th Oil and Gas Cyber Security conference, taking place on 3-4 June in Oslo, Norway will address the most pressing cyber security issues facing the oil and gas sector with key presentations delivered by senior industry figures from Total, Salalah Methanol Company, Tullow Oil, Cairn India and Saudi Aramco. The two-day programme will build on the success of the 2013 event by discussing recent efforts to bolster protection of highly valuable intellectual property and commercially sensitive information on production, exploration plans and assets through project updates, case studies, live demonstrations, technology sessions, panel debates and networking opportunities.

Speaker Panel includes:
• H.M. Ambassador Jane Owen, British Embassy, Norway
• Gal Luft, Co-Director, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, Senior Adviser, United States Energy Security Council
• Nuri Fattah, Director, DefenceCorp
• Ewen MacDonald, Lead Instrument and Systems Engineer, Total
• Senior Respresentative, Tullow Oil
• Paul Charchaflian, European Sales Director, Waterfall Security
• Ammar Qatan, Information Technology Manager, Salalah Methanol Company
• Gomeet Pant, Information Security Manager, Cairn India
• Bandar Mesned Al Saifi, Data Network Engineer, Saudi Aramco
• Dr Siv Hilde Houmb, Associate Professor II, NISlab, Gjøvik University College
• Arne Røed Simonsen, Senior Advisor, Norwegian Business and Industry Security Council (NSR)
• Gianluca D’Antonio, Chief Information Security Officer, Information Security & IT Risk Management, FCC Citizen Services

To view the full speaker line-up and complete two-day conference programme, visit http://www.smi-online.co.uk/oilandgas-cybersecurity11.asp

Plus, don't miss the post-conference workshops on taking place on 5th June 2014:
A: Network monitoring and Situational Awareness for Oil and Gas OT infrastructure | Led by Dr Damiano Bolzoni, Chief Operating Officer, SecurityMatters | 08.30-12.30
B: Cyber Security Incident Handling for Oil and Gas | Led by Dr Siv Hilde Houmb, CEO and CTO, Secure-NOK AS | 13.30-17.00

Vinh Trinh
SMi Group
+44 (0) 20 7827 6140
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