Gregory Hale, ISSSource

Effective process safety management for preventing future incidents

To prevent dangerous process incidents from occurring, facilities should employ effective communication, provide workers with appropriate training, and have in place strong and up-to-date policies and procedures. Eleven key principles and best practices are highlighted.

Countering security threats to oil and gas networks

With greater connectivity between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), and the rise of the IIoT, can increase and even change the vulnerabilities of oil and gas assets to cyber attack. Companies and standards groups are looking to counter these efforts.

Mindset changing on oil and gas safety and profitability

In the oil and gas industry, safety and profitability must be intertwined as today's way of thinking needs to go beyond the conventional and move into the more digital and connected world.

Preventing cyber attacks against process, oil and gas safety systems

Companies looking to avoid a repeat of the Triton cybersecurity incident in 2017 should follow standards and practices and make cybersecurity part of the whole lifecycle for their process safety systems.

Pipeline firms working through cybersecurity troubles

Cyber attacks aimed at electronic systems for communication with customers were a target for multiple oil and gas companies and speak to a larger problem about best practices that affects the entire industry.

AI used to predict oil and gas equipment failures

Graphics processing units is being used to train deep learning algorithms, it is possible to predict when oil and gas equipment might fail and improve the efficiency and reliability of expensive drilling and refining operations.

Using a PHA for process valve safety

A detailed process hazard analysis (PHA) has to examine the human factors involved and identify, evaluate, and control potential hazards to prevent future process valve incidents from occurring.

Prevent process safety incidents from occurring

Process safety incidents can lead to tragic consequences for workers and for innocent bystanders and it is paramount companies work on improving protocols and best practices.

Defense from tainted mobile devices

Solutions such as Secure Media Exchange (SMX) are designed to protect facilities against USB threats without the need for procedures or restrictions that impact operations or industrial personnel.

Oil and gas cybersecurity not keeping pace with technology developments

A research report by Ponemon Institute indicates that while oil and gas cybersecurity is strong, the industry is note keeping pace with technology developments and their cyber readiness is not high.

Pipeline safety bill gives regulators emergency authority

President Barack Obama signed a bill to renew the federal government's pipeline safety program. The bill gives regulators new emergency authorities.

Productivity, profit standards help executives make the right decisions

The oil and gas industry can use productivity and profit standards to help executives make the right decisions, which is also vital for the technically-minded and process-driven engineering and operational staff.

Taking safety measures to prevent a Black Swan event

A Black Swan event is a case in which an unpredicted, rare event occurs. John Murphy, a safety professional with Process Safety Services, said a strong, robust process safety management system will minimize the potential impact.

Offshore oil well safety rules implemented by Interior Department

The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement regulations for oil well safety include more stringent design requirements and operational procedures for offshore oil and gas operations.

Offshore risk management still inadequate, group says

While risk policies and additional regulations have been added to potentially prevent another incident like Deepwater Horizon, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) determined that key concepts are needed to more effectively reduce risks.

Electronic voiceprint technology designed to improve network security

Researchers have developed an approach using an electronic voiceprint to improve network security for industrial control systems (ICSs) in oil and gas refineries, manufacturing facilities, wastewater treatment plants and other critical industrial systems.

Getting ahead of the IIoT cybersecurity curve

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) offers many potential benefits, but it also poses many potential risks from a cybersecurity standpoint, and many companies are slow to realize this drawback.

Companies developing multi-vendor prototype that is open and secure

ExxonMobil and Lockheed Martin are working together to build a multi-vendor interoperable prototype that is a standards-based, open, secure, and interoperable architecture, with commercially available software and hardware components.

IT, OT experts having trouble tracking ICS threats

A survey of IT and OT professionals indicated that the is a lack of preparation for a potential cyber security attack against industrial control systems (ICSs), particularly in the energy industry, which faces more cyber attacks than any other industry.

Perfect fuel cells with imperfect graphene

An imperfect graphene structure with tiny holes could lead to improved fuel cells.

Hyperspectral video camera sees leaks

Hyperspectral cameras designed to take pictures of cancer cells at 30 frames per second are now being used to spot and detect gas leaks.

Saving energy, hiking pipeline oil flow

A strong electric field applied to a section of the Keystone pipeline can smooth oil flow and yield significant pump energy savings.

New way to monitor offshore oil, gas fields

A new technique called time-lapse reflection seismology is used to monitor offshore oil and gas deposits to optimize production and look for hazards such as hidden gas pockets.

Mobile spy program targets oil industry

A cyber-espionage campaign thought to be the next step in the Red October operation appears to be targeting, among others, oil industry users of Android, iOS and BlackBerry mobile devices through spear-phishing attacks.

Importance of safety and security on the rise

When it comes to safety, or even running a process, everyone has to be on the same page to ensure a smooth running operation.

Functional safety: A growing concern

It is very simple, quality safety practices mean manufacturers will be more profitable and that is one reason why industrial process industry is experiencing dynamic growth in functional process safety applications.

Better security through math

Statistical databases (SDBs) are collections of data used to gather and analyze information from a variety of sources. The data may come from plant floor computations, sales transactions, customer files, voter registrations, medical records, employee rosters, product inventories, or other compilations of facts and figures.

Small businesses lack disaster recovery plans

It is not surprising because of short staffing, but when it comes to planning for the worst, small businesses don’t even come close to being able to tackle a serious dilemma.

Trojan APT hits DoD smart cards

A variant of the Sykipot Trojan Horse is able to hijack U.S. Dept. of Defense (DoD) smart cards in order to access restricted resources.

Platform security: Mobile devices victimized

Truth be told, security for mobile platforms is weak at best, and while Android and Apple have been taking the largest amount of hits these days, BlackBerry has its issues also.