Physical Security Solutions for the Oil & Gas Industry

Convergence of physical and industrial controls.

Applications and systems controlling oil and gas industrial processes are complex and typically traverse large geographies. Most of these processes run non-stop and are fine-tuned to deliver performance and reliability. Modification or replacement of these systems usually only occurs after a 10 to 15-year use cycle.

Many of the systems currently in place were not designed with Security in mind. The Alert Enterprise platform solves these inadequacies, linking to specialized plant applications like Distributed Control Systems (DCS), plant historians and specialized log management systems that deliver data directly from field devices like PLCs, RTUs, and SCADA systems.

Alert Enterprise software uncovers blended threats across multiple areas to detect and prevent unintentional or malicious incidents before they happen – and even specific to the

operation of a broad range of instruments, sensors, switches, valves, gauges, servo control motors, pumps, alarms, relays and communications gear.

The software integrates seamlessly with enterprise applications including HR systems and providing ongoing background checks and risk analysis during the entire hire-to-retire journey.

The Alert Enterprise platform manages insider threats by integrating across multiple Physical Access Control Systems (PACS), video surveillance and sensor networks to continually monitor employee and contractor access to critical assets across the entire energy value chain.

Alert Enterprise Solutions

Unified business layer that correlates blended threats across IT systems, physical access controls and industrial controls
Monitor insider threats via cross-application risk
analysis – including onboarding and offboarding
Incident management and response
system includes pre-packaged remedial
action strategies

Rich, content situational awareness display – geospatial mapping to Google Maps, Virtual Earth
Compliance automation meets industryspecific regulations

Alert Enterprise delivers next-gen physical solutions for the oil & gas industry

Alert Enterprise is the only software that can detect and uncover security threats across IT systems, physical access and industrial controls without adversely impacting the performance or reliability of the process and providing real-time incident response and situational awareness.

Companies are challenged with securing their plant applications from exposure created by ongoing integration with business processes. Most Security technologies have been developed for corporate networks and cannot be installed in real-time environments without impacting operational reliability. The plant can no longer operate effectively in this environment. Alert Enterprise delivers an add-on solution that can secure

enterprise IT and plant applications and deliver continuous, integrated monitoring to prevent sabotage, acts of terrorism and malicious acts.

To address insider threats, Alert Enterprise conducts background certification checks and risk analysis prior to enabling access to critical areas, assets, devices and applications needed for operations. Additionally, Alert Enterprise ensures terminated employees no longer have physical or logical access to systems, facilities and assets. Companies trying to accomplish this today are too often faced with manual procedures that are time-consuming, costly and unable to scale.

Alert Enterprise software delivers IT-OT convergence solutions that include security and operational risk management for upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Integrating across IT, physical security and OT/SCADA operations, Alert Enterprise software yields critical infrastructure protection for the entire enterprise.

Securing workforce identity and access – an insider threat use case

A company we’ve named BigFood was dealing with a disgruntled production foreman, “Tom.” Tom not only had physical access to the production floor, but was intimately familiar with the control system settings to configure recipes for the Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).

Alert Enterprise Guardian’s certified and real-time integration SAP SuccessFactors HCM provided critical real-time data that identified Tom’s history of workplace issues. When Tom accessed the plant area after his normal shift hours, Alert Enterprise software detected that he was making unusual changes to the production settings to eliminate the addition of preservatives. An alert was immediately sent to the Security Operations staff as well as the Plant Manager. The incident was prevented, with huge savings from avoided downtime and protection from loss of reputation to the company brand.

Capabilities for oil & gas installations.

Employee and contractor onboarding/offboarding
Managing SCADA security and operational safety
Enhanced security operations center capabilities
Plant incident management and response
Operational compliance

Energy transportation security.

Traversing the energy value chain involves transportation – pipelines and multi-modal transport including sea, rail and trucking.

Thousands of access points, hundreds of employees, varying levels of security from highly access-controlled areas at ports, to moderately controlled areas open to the public – all need to be monitored.

Alert Enterprise scales to the challenge – detecting and identifying threats that viewed separately might not be cause for alarm, but when correlated and analyzed require immediate attention and mitigation.

Some of the benefits include the following:

Deliver complete security across the enterprise
Visualization enables better alignment between business and security objectives
Faster response to unfolding incidents minimizes adverse impact to business
Remedial action strategies yield knowledge to responders
allowing managers to focus on mitigation
Active policy enforcement with operational compliance