Abstract
As a national critical information infrastructure and a pillar energy industry, the petrochemical industry’s industrial control systems (ICS) undertake the task of continuous production management and control under high-temperature, high-pressure, flammable and explosive working conditions. Cybersecurity is directly related to production safety, personnel safety and public safety. With the in-depth advancement of industrial digital transformation, petrochemical ICS have gradually broken the traditional physical isolation pattern and moved towards the integration of IT and OT, remote operation and maintenance, and intelligent management and control. Problems such as blurred network boundaries, diversified attack paths and concealed threats have become increasingly prominent, leading to a continuous rise in cybersecurity risks for industrial control networks. Based on the industrial characteristics and operation status of petrochemical ICS, this paper analyzes multi-dimensional cybersecurity threats including the system’s own vulnerabilities, external attacks, internal hidden dangers and supply chain risks, and digs deep into the core causes of these threats. In combination with industrial standards, it constructs a trinity comprehensive prevention and control system of "technical prevention + management prevention + emergency prevention", and puts forward targeted prevention and control strategies in line with the actual production of the petrochemical industry. This research provides theoretical reference and practical guidance for petrochemical enterprises to build a solid cybersecurity defense line for industrial control networks and ensure the continuous and stable operation of production.
References
Badawy, M., Sherief, N. H., & Abdel-Hamid, A. A. (2024). Legacy ICS cybersecurity assessment using hybrid threat modeling—An oil and gas sector case study. Applied Sciences, 14(18), 8398.
Chen, Z. S., Zhang, W. Q., & Gao, S. H. (2025). Risk assessment and hardening measures for network security of petroleum industrial control systems. Network Security Technology & Application, (12), 103-105.
Gui, S. T. (2025). Research on the construction of network security system for industrial control systems in petroleum enterprises. Information System Engineering, (10), 99-102.
Huang, W., Wang, J. H., & Tang, N. Z. (2025). Cybersecurity risks and construction of three lines of defense for industrial control systems of oil and gas pipelines. China Petroleum and Chemical Industry, (8), 65-67.
Iaiani, M., Tugnoli, A., Casson Moreno, V., & others. (2020). Analysis of past cybersecurity-related incidents in the process industry and the like. Chemical Engineering Transactions, 82, 163-168.
Mc Ewan, K. A. (2020). Cyber-threats as political risk: Increased risk for the oil and gas industry (Master’s thesis). Stel-lenbosch University.
Mohammed, A. S., Reinecke, P., Burnap, P., & others. (2022). Cybersecurity challenges in the offshore oil and gas industry: an industrial cyber-physical systems (ICPS) perspective. ACM Transactions on Cyber-Physical Systems (TCPS), 6(3), 1-27.
Moreno, V. C., Reniers, G., Salzano, E., & others. (2018). Analysis of physical and cyber security-related events in the chemical and process industry. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 116, 621-631.
Rajaruthnam, L., & Peach, R. (2025). Incorporating cybersecurity measures around industrial control systems (ICS) within the petrochemical sector. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 105803.
Xu, Q. F., & Li, X. (2025). Network boundary security protection and abnormal behavior detection for industrial control systems. Network Security and Informatization, (10), 34-36.