DHS announces security measures for critical pipeline industry

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced new cybersecurity requirements for critical pipeline owners and operators.

The Colonial pipeline incident continues to have a serious impact on the critical infrastructure sector. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced new cybersecurity requirements for owners and operators of critical pipelines.

The new security directive requires critical pipeline owners and operators to report any confirmed and potential cybersecurity incidents to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

“The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving and we must adapt to address new and emerging threats,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The recent ransomware attack on a major petroleum pipeline demonstrates that the cybersecurity of pipeline systems is critical to our homeland security.” reads the announcement published by the “DHS will continue to work closely with our private sector partners to support their operations and increase the resilience of our nation’s critical infrastructure.”

The Security Directive will also require critical pipeline owners and operators to review their current practices, identify cyber-related risks and implement remediation measures. DHS also required them to report the results to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and CISA within 30 days.

DHS urges infrastructure to designate a Cybersecurity Coordinator, who has to be available 24 hours a day.

TSA is also considering follow-on mandatory measures to enhance the level of cybersecurity of the industry and strengthen the partnership between public and private operators.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, pipeline)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.