Mining, Quarrying, and Oil & Gas Extraction + Utilities
NAICS 21+22

Mining, Quarrying, and Oil & Gas Extraction + Utilities (or MQOGEU as we like to say) simply rolls off the tongue. It is an interesting “combined” industry that has had a high number of engineers. This is perhaps fitting as it seems to be under barrage from the other form of “engineers” –the Social Engineers. This industry has had a higher rate of Social Engineering breaches than their peers.

And it shows, as more than 60% of all breaches are Phishing (Figure d930713), followed by stolen credentials (potentially gathered by Phishing) and Ransomware (potentially tangential to Phishing). Given the key importance of this industry to our everyday well-being, we certainly hope that those credentials aren’t the only thing keeping our utilities and mining operations safe, especially since that’s one of the most commonly breached data types.

Considering the high prevalence of Phishing and credential attacks, it’s not too surprising to have Email servers as this industry’s most commonly breached asset, followed by Web applications and Desktops. Even though the infrastructure that runs these complex systems isn’t traditional IT infrastructure, the company can still be exposed to the very same threats as any other organization.