Energy, Utilities, & Power Industry Overview
Ten years ago, cyberwarfare was a looming, theoretical, “on the horizon” type of threat. Now, we see its impact creep into daily headlines, from geopolitical tensions abroad to stories of foreign nation-state actors infiltrating our critical infrastructure. Essential sectors like energy and utilities cannot lean on the minimum level of defense to avoid the massive target now squarely upon their backs.
Threat actors motivated by financial gain, hacktivist causes, and state-sponsored espionage won’t pull punches when it comes to hitting societies where it hurts. That’s why Fortra’s arsenal of defense-ready solutions backs the power industry and other critical sectors like energy and utilities, keeping them online and hardening them against today’s modern attacks.
Recent events have proven that critical infrastructure cybersecurity measures must be strong and standardized to avoid leaving weak spots for attackers to exploit. One weak link in the chain, whether it be in a water utility or major national oil pipeline, can and will be found.
Protecting Critical Infrastructure
The Challenge
Energy firms face ever-increasing risks from outsider attacks—and it's costing them. According to recent research from KELA Cyber Threat Intelligence, ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure surged by 34% in 2025 alone, while findings from Bridewell indicate the average ransomware attack now costs critical infrastructure organizations over $509,000. The most valuable IP for energy firms is usually unstructured data, such as exploration site plans, process flow plans and proprietary technology. The problem is that many cybersecurity solutions lack the ability to recognize or protect such data.
Even so, energy firms are under immense pressure to safeguard this unstructured sensitive data while securely sharing with offshore production and outsourcing partners. They also need to demonstrate compliance with NERC CIP, FERC, and other regulatory requirements.
Our Solution
Comprehensive cybersecurity measures in the realm of critical infrastructure requires a set of modern solutions capable of identifying structured and unstructured sensitive data, properly classifying that data, and enforcing security policies to proactively prevent security incidents and data breaches. Furthermore, implementing solutions that facilitate compliance in the present but that also maintain long-term compliance as regulations change must also be taken into consideration.
Leading energy producers and providers worldwide rely on Fortra's Data Protection solutions to secure their IP while delivering the flexibility and friendly user experience to easily share sensitive data among privileged users and partners. From data discovery, to deep visibility, to classification and policy enforcement, our portfolio of modern tools combine for end-to-end security, from your endpoints to your cloud environment. Meanwhile, our Vulnerability Management and Integrity & Compliance Monitoring locate and mitigate potentially exploitable vulnerabilities, manage your security configurations, and ensure immediate and long-lasting compliance.
Benefits of Cybersecurity in Energy & Utilities Organizations
Practice against today's cyberwarfare techniques
Expose your utilities plant to the kind of advanced threats it will face in real-world attacks, from APTs to polymorphic malware and more.
Expose your utilities plant to the kind of advanced threats it will face in real-world attacks, from APTs to polymorphic malware and more.
Secure against AI-driven threats
Catch behavioral anomalies in your network and in your inbox with the latest in behavioral-driven detection technology. Its utilities cybersecurity that stays ahead of the industry curve.
Catch behavioral anomalies in your network and in your inbox with the latest in behavioral-driven detection technology. Its utilities cybersecurity that stays ahead of the industry curve.
Maintain compliance in a highly regulated landscape
Don’t leave energy and utilities plants exposed to failed audits, revoked licensure, contract disqualification, or ransomware actors holding a compliance call-out over your head.
Don’t leave energy and utilities plants exposed to failed audits, revoked licensure, contract disqualification, or ransomware actors holding a compliance call-out over your head.
Protect the public interest
Hold the line against nation-state attackers and maintain societal stability by making sure essential services don’t go offline.
Hold the line against nation-state attackers and maintain societal stability by making sure essential services don’t go offline.
Scale to the modern era
Secure anything from legacy architecture to hybrid and cloud-native environments with energy and utilities cybersecurity solutions designed to bridge the gap.
Secure anything from legacy architecture to hybrid and cloud-native environments with energy and utilities cybersecurity solutions designed to bridge the gap.
Regulatory Frameworks and Compliance Requirements for Energy & Utilities
An old industry adage states that compliance doesn’t equal security. In some cases, that’s true. However, those standards have gotten a lot better as major energy and utilities stakeholders have come together in recent years to address the criticality of cyber defense given the common threats of cyber espionage, nation-state attacks, and advanced technological threats. To this day, utilities cybersecurity standards continue to improve, and we can anticipate waves of additional regulation in coming years.
Compliance Frameworks
To avoid crippling attacks to the power industry or energy and utilities sectors, regulatory frameworks and guidelines were put in place. The following list is not comprehensive, only highlighting several cybersecurity standards required within the U.S. energy, utilities, and power sectors.
Data Types We Protect
Fortra Solutions for Energy & Utilities Organizations
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Data Classification
Fortra's Energy & Utilities Cybersecurity Case Studies
Fortra is on the front lines of securing energy and utilities in cyberspace. Here are a few examples of our commitment.
Secure Energy & Utilities with Fortra
Want to go a step further in safeguarding critical industrial assets? Explore our range of energy and utilities cybersecurity solutions when you talk with a Fortra expert today.