CYBER THREATS : UNDERSTANDING WHAT ’ S AT STAKE
PHISHING ATTACKS
CYBER ESPIONAGE
“ Increased connectivity within operational technology environments has exponentially expanded the threat surface of the mining industry ”
— Andrea Carcano , Co-Founder & CPO , Nozomi Networks
It ’ s fair to say that attackers show no sign of slowing down , and with such high stakes , mine operators need to take the necessary precautions to protect their business .
CYBER THREATS : UNDERSTANDING WHAT ’ S AT STAKE
The first step for mining operators looking to protect themselves from these new cyber threats is to develop an understanding of where these threats come from . The top three threats observed in the mining industry include : gold mine of information , such as , details on location and value of natural deposits , the extraction and processing technology used and business strategy . All this information could be leveraged in M & A negotiations or be used to gain competitive advantage . For example , Global mining company BHP Billiton became a victim of a cyber espionage campaign in 2011 , with attackers targeting the company to gain access to market pricing for key commodities .
PHISHING ATTACKS
Phishing attacks are becoming an increasingly common infection vector in the mining industry . According to the 2019 Internet Security Threat Report , more than 38 % of email users in the sector were hit with such an attack in the last year . These types
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CYBER ESPIONAGE
For nation-state sponsored threat actors , mining organisations are a miningglobal . com