Thoughts on energy cybersecurity from The Hague

The Oilholic is just rounding up a visit to The Hague, Netherlands, after an insightful two days at the ONE Conference, a leading annual cybersecurity event organised here as part of this year's Cybersecurity Week. 

In the digital age, this issue is one of critical concern and rising operating expenditure for the energy and heavy industry segments. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), big data and automation are rising in currency in the inexorable march to throughput optimisation, and hostile actors are after that digital estate given the complex world we live in.

It is therefore no surprise that energy and industrial firms have gone from reactive to proactive mode on cybersecurity, as complacency is simply not an option. That was a warning as well as a call to action delivered by none other than Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in his keynote address to the event on Tuesday. 

Here is yours truly's missive from the ONE Conference for Forbes. It also includes the thoughts of Matthijs van Amelsfort, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, Netherlands, on threat assessments and those of Mark Ruijsendaal, Programme Director at Security Delta, on addressing the skills and awareness gaps from a European perspective. 

Delegates also heard from Bibi van den Berg, Professor of Cybersecurity Governance, and head of the Cybersecurity Governance Research Group, at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University. 

van den Berg said that rather than view security as an add-on (which is typically how most industries go about it) - were they to instead design systems and networks securely from the start - risks may be reduced and incidents may be prevented to a much higher degree than what happens at the moment. In other words, a "security by design" approach. 

Elsewhere, among the many interesting subjects on industrial cybersecurity the Oilholic engaged with, one by Justin Grosfelt, Senior Manager at Recorded Future, on turning malware against itself for proactive defence was heavily attended, with even standing room running out. 

Grosfelt asked what if the key to stopping malware was hidden inside the actual malware itself? Essentially exploring the concept of malware vaccines, i.e. using and deploying the techniques malware uses for self-preservation to turn the tables on attackers.

In an engaging session, he outlined (some of the) countermeasures that may trick malware into aborting its execution before it ever deploys its payload. 

Away from the event's wide-ranging programme, this blogger also took time out to visit its Expo. 

The theme this year was "Meet the Start-Ups." And true to the masthead, the Expo featured 30 booths where start-ups presented their latest developments in cybersecurity. 

The Expo also had a talent hub, and interestingly a "capital area" where start-ups could meet private and public organisations to discuss subsidies, funding schemes and venture investment. All-in-all, a splendid event on a vital subject. 

On that note, its goodbye from The Hague and the ONE Conference. More musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'!

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© Gaurav Sharma 2025. Photo I: Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dick Schoof addresses the ONE Conference in the Hague, Netherlands on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Photo II: Energy Analyst Gaurav Sharma at the ONE Conference. Photo III: Talent Hub at the ONE Conference. © Gaurav Sharma, September / October 2025.

Back at HUG19 talking energy cybersecurity

The Oilholic is back in The Hague, Netherlands for the 2019 installment of Honeywell Users Group EMEA; the annual European jamboree of the global software industrial company's automation and optimisation unit - Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS).

Everything from state-of-the-art plant processing systems to virtual reality kit for health and safety happen to be on display, and every year the event gets bigger, because the energy and petrochemical world's appetite for big data and cost optimisation is getting voracious by day.

Advanced analytics, digital optimisation of throughput, cloud solutions - you name it. To quote our old friend - Jason Urso, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of HPS, "It not the data that's big, it's what you do with it that matters."

In a mammoth two-hour long keynote and presentation to kick-off the event's first morning, Urso touched on how Honeywell's old workhorse of a plant control system - the TDC 3000 - can benefit from deployment of its digital twin his team have been aggressively promoting in recent years.

To the uninitiated on the plant control front, basically Urso and his team are saying, if you want a swanky new control system, by all means go for, but the existing infrastructure can indeed be "digitally optimised" and upgraded; reducing the need for everything from multiple clunky servers to a messy mass of cables. And no its not getting too cloudy in the age of Big Data, because the usage of cloud computing and off premise data storage (where permissible by law) is growing.

Of course, as digital techniques proliferate, so does the worry, and in HPS' case, the opportunity of cybersecurity. In sync with that sentiment, HPS is notching up its cybersecurity offering and there is form here. In 2018, the company launched its dedicated cybersecurity consulting outfit to help customers rightly spooked about the growing threat.

It seems 12 months on, that dedication has multiplied several times over via its - Honeywell Forge Cybersecurity platform, which "simplifies, strengthens and scales cybersecurity for asset-intensive businesses and critical infrastructure facing cyber threats."

According to Jeff Zindell, HPS' Vice Present of Cybersecurity, the offering can be scaled to match cyber-requirements and budgets, and the allied customer support that goes with it. With over 50% of HPS' client base being in the energy and petrochemicals sphere, it is easy to fathom where it sees the demand coming from.

Zindell describes the new unified suite of applications, services and products as a "natural step to take to address a range of end-user requirements from asset discovery and monitoring to fully managed services.

In what would be music to margin squeezed downstream and midstream players' ears, Zindell said the unified suite will also bring down costs alongside optimisation of cybersecurity mechanisms.

Plenty to chew on, and some images from the exhibition you to look at, but that's all from The Hague on this visit. Next stop Dubai and Fujairah via London Heathrow; keep reading, keep it 'crude'!

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To email: gaurav.sharma@oilholicssynonymous.com

© Gaurav Sharma 2019. Photo 1: Jason Urso, Vice President and CTO of HPS, discusses Honeywell TDC 3000's digital twin options. Photo 2,3 & 4: Honeywell virtual reality headsets, kits and flow management and monitoring equipment © Gaurav Sharma, Oct 24-25, 2019, The Hague, Netherlands.