During a House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Homeland Security hearing, Congressman Tony Gonzales addressed concerns regarding the protection of America’s energy infrastructure. He questioned Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Acting Director Bridget Bean about the agency’s strategies to safeguard the industry.
“The oil and gas industry is very important, not only in my district, not only to Texas, but to the United States,” said Congressman Gonzales. “The Colonial Pipeline is very much on our minds. Can you briefly talk about what you’re doing to make sure that our energy industry is ready for that next attack that’s coming?”
In response, CISA Acting Director Bean explained the agency’s collaborative efforts with the Department of Energy and sector risk management agencies. She stated, “We’re working with the oil and gas companies specifically to make sure that they’re understanding of what is the threat to them, who is targeting them, and what can they do to help better secure themselves.”
Bean highlighted that adversaries are exploiting known vulnerabilities rather than using novel techniques. She noted that these actors search for misconfigurations online and often go undetected due to their methods.
“We’re trying to work with the oil and gas companies…to understand…we need to make the adversary work harder to get in,” she added. Bean emphasized providing intelligence briefings and ensuring companies have contingency plans in place for potential disruptions.
Bean concluded by stating their approach aims at enhancing resilience so operations can resume quickly if interrupted.
