It began like any other night shift at the drilling site.
The air was calm, the machinery steady, the hum of operations almost reassuring. Then, without warning, the monitors blinked, control systems froze, and a billion-dollar operation came to an abrupt standstill. This was not a power cut or a mechanical breakdown. It was a targeted cyber-attack that struck at the heart of the operation.
Oil & Gas
What followed was far more than a technical crisis, it was a human one.
Operators worked in the dark to keep safety systems running. A junior engineer made a split-second decision that prevented a pipeline rupture. At headquarters, managers tried to calm investors while they themselves had no clear picture of what was unfolding. Families were called. Backup systems failed. In those hours, it stopped being about data or networks. It became about trust, people, and pressure.
The result of outdated systems
Here, an attack can shut down machinery, cause environmental damage, or put lives in danger.
This incident, like many others we have seen in the GCC and Europe, was the result of outdated systems connected to the internet with minimal protection. There had been warnings, as there always are. But with production targets to meet, budgets stretched thin, and ageing technology still in use, cybersecurity had never been treated as a priority. It should have been.
At Alexsta Cybersecurity, we have stood in the middle of situations like this.
We have seen the fatigue etched on the faces of engineers after more than 36 hours of emergency response. We have heard the frustration and regret in a plant manager’s voice when he admitted, “I should have pushed harder for this last year.” We understand those moments, because our role is not just to bring technical expertise. We bring calm, structure, and a plan to restore control and protect what matters most.
Our goal is to ensure that when an attack happens, operations remain safe, teams stay confident, and the impact is contained.
We review SCADA, ICS, and other field control systems to identify weaknesses and isolate them from corporate IT networks.
We move quickly to contain the breach, determine how it happened, and preserve evidence for regulatory and insurance purposes.
We actively search for signs of compromise in both IT and OT systems before they can disrupt production.
We fix exploitable gaps in legacy equipment and software without halting critical operations.
We provide 24/7 monitoring and rapid escalation for operational environments, tailored to industrial needs.
We train engineers, operators, and managers to recognise threats and respond with confidence.
We design plans to restore production and safety systems quickly while minimising downtime.
The hard truth
When you work with us, you gain more than a cybersecurity service. You gain a strategic sentinel committed to your resilience.
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