For the naysayers out there, you should know I'm not alone in thinking the energy sector must be more vigilant against hacking. In fact, with the American Petroleum Institute's (API) Cybersecurity Conference & Expo for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry upcoming in Texas this November, it should be even more evident that cybersecurity is becoming as critical to E&P infrastructure as resource extraction methods themselves. The API even picked "Oil country USA" to hold this major event on cybersecurity. And why not – according to information security company Mandiant, the energy industry trails only the aerospace/defense sector as the industry most likely to witness a cyber attack. This means resources need to be allocated toward energy cybersecurity to secure our power sources like never before. That also means that investing opportunities in the space should not be ignored
Business as usual for energy companies is something that is no longer possible without a dedicated effort to combat cyberterrorism. The U.S. can't remain a superpower if the lights aren't on, so cybersecuring your portfolio appears with a name like Lockheed Martin (LMT -0.28%) to be a solid long-term investment strategy.
