Protecting the business network that feeds nominations, measurement and the control room

Midstream & Pipeline Operators IT Services

Pipelines and gathering systems run on SCADA, but the business that schedules, measures and bills every molecule runs on an ordinary corporate network, and the two are connected more often than anyone likes to admit.

Talk to Us About Midstream & Pipeline Operators IT 888.792.8080

SOC 2 Aligned

Responsive Support

20+ Years Experience

At a glance

A ransomware infection on the IT side can force an operator to halt flow simply because nobody can trust what billing and scheduling systems are showing.

We secure that IT side: identity, endpoints, email, backups, and the segmentation and jump-host architecture at the IT/OT boundary that keeps business-side threats away from the control room.

Inside SCADA we coordinate with your controls engineers and integrators instead of acting alone, and we support gatherers, processors and transmission operators in Texas and nationwide.

IT that keeps product moving, volumes measured, nominations on time.

A hardened IT side and a controlled IT/OT boundary, so a phishing email never decides whether your line keeps flowing.

Midstream & pipeline IT

The line flows on SCADA. The business runs on IT.

Control rooms get the attention, but scheduling, gas measurement, contracts and invoicing all run on the corporate network, and those systems decide whether you can keep operating with confidence. Here's what midstream depends on day to day, how the IT side gets compromised, what we change and what you can show regulators and insurers afterward.

01 · The pressure

Nominations, measurement and billing never pause

Shippers nominate volumes on deadlines, schedulers confirm them, and measurement analysts validate chart and EFM data from meters across the system before allocations close. Accounting turns all of it into invoices and producer statements. If those business systems go down or can't be trusted, it doesn't matter that the SCADA is healthy. You can't confirm what moved or bill for it, and leadership has to decide whether running blind is acceptable.

Nomination and scheduling deadlines every gas day
Meter data validated before allocations close
Producer statements and invoices depend on IT

02 · How it breaks

Dual-homed servers and contractor VPN accounts

The weak spots are usually on the boundary. A historian server has one network card on the business LAN and another on the control network. An integrator's VPN account from a project years ago still works and has no MFA. Engineers copy files between networks on USB drives because there's no approved path. A scheduler's mailbox gets phished and the attacker sits quietly in Microsoft 365, mapping who has access to what before moving.

Historian servers bridging business and control LANs
Old integrator VPN accounts without MFA
USB transfers filling in for a real file path

03 · What we change

Segmentation, jump hosts and monitored identity

We work with your controls team to put a demilitarized zone between business and control networks, so historians and data replicas sit in the middle and nothing routes straight through. Remote and vendor access goes through MFA-protected jump hosts with session recording. Corporate identities get phishing-resistant MFA and privileged access controls, endpoints get managed detection and response, and backups become immutable and tested. We document all of it in terms that map to your security program.

IT/OT DMZ for historians and data replication
Recorded jump-host sessions for every vendor
Immutable, tested backups of business systems

04 · The after

Evidence ready when the auditor or underwriter asks

After the work, an infection on a laptop in the accounting office stays an IT incident and never becomes an operational decision. If you're a TSA-designated covered operator, you have architecture diagrams, access records and tested recovery results to support your cybersecurity implementation plan and assessments. Insurers get concrete answers on segmentation, MFA and backups. Your controls engineers keep authority over the control network, with a clear, logged handoff at the boundary.

IT incidents contained before reaching operations
Records that support TSA directive assessments
Clear ownership between IT and controls teams

Systems we keep running

AVEVA PI System
Quorum Flowcal
Quorum PGAS
Esri ArcGIS
Enverus
Microsoft 365

Rules we help you meet

TSA Security Directive Pipeline-2021-01 (TSA-designated covered operators)
TSA Security Directive Pipeline-2021-02 series (TSA-designated covered operators)
API Standard 1164
PHMSA control room management (49 CFR 192.631 / 195.446)
ISA/IEC 62443

What We Offer

Comprehensive solutions tailored for Houston-area businesses

IT/OT Boundary Architecture

We design the zones and conduits between your corporate network and control environment, following the ISA/IEC 62443 model: a DMZ for historians and replicated data, firewall rules that deny by default, and no direct routes from business PCs into SCADA. Your controls engineers approve every change that touches the control side, and we implement the IT half.

Jump Hosts & Vendor Remote Access

Integrators, SCADA vendors and your own engineers need remote access. We funnel it through hardened jump hosts with phishing-resistant MFA, per-session approval and recording. Stale VPN accounts get retired, shared credentials get removed and every session leaves a record you can produce for an assessment.

Protection for Measurement & Scheduling Systems

Gas measurement, scheduling, contract and accounting systems hold the data you bill and report from. We harden the servers and databases behind them, restrict administrative access, monitor them with managed detection and response and back them up immutably, so you can restore a trustworthy copy after an incident.

Identity & Privileged Access Controls

Attackers who reach the control network usually do it with a stolen corporate credential. We enforce MFA across Microsoft 365 and remote access, separate admin accounts from daily-use accounts, apply privileged access management to servers and boundary devices, and alert on risky sign-ins and new mailbox rules.

Detection, Response & Recovery Planning

Endpoints and servers on the IT side get managed detection and response with 24/7 SOC monitoring. We build an incident response plan with your operations and controls leads that spells out who decides whether to isolate the boundary, and we test recovery of business systems so the plan reflects reality.

Directive & Assessment Documentation

For TSA-designated covered operators, we help produce the IT-side evidence your cybersecurity implementation plan and assessments rely on: network diagrams, access control records, patch status and recovery test results. Your compliance lead and counsel own the filings; we supply accurate technical material for them and keep it current between assessment cycles.

Why Choose LayerLogix?

Serving businesses throughout the Greater Houston area including Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Atlanta, Nationwide.

Business Incidents Stay Business Incidents

With a real DMZ and controlled remote access, a phished mailbox or infected laptop doesn't put leadership in the position of deciding whether to halt flow because nobody can see what's connected to what. The control room keeps running while IT cleans up.

Trustworthy Data for Billing and Allocation

Hardened and backed-up measurement, scheduling and accounting systems mean that after an incident you can restore records you trust, close allocations and get statements and invoices out the door without rebuilding a month of numbers by hand.

Assessment Evidence on Hand

Diagrams, access logs and recovery results are kept current, so a TSA assessment, an internal audit or a shipper's security review becomes a matter of pulling records rather than reconstructing them from memory under a deadline.

Stronger Footing With Underwriters

Energy underwriters ask pointed questions about segmentation, MFA, privileged access and backups. You'll answer with documented controls and test results, which puts you in a better position at renewal than a set of good intentions.

Our Process

Meet with IT, operations and controls leads to map business systems, boundary devices, remote-access paths and how data crosses between networks today.

Identify and close the highest-risk boundary issues first, such as dual-homed servers, stale vendor VPN accounts and missing MFA.

Design the IT/OT DMZ and jump-host model with your controls engineers, then implement the IT side in planned maintenance windows they approve.

Deploy managed detection and response, privileged access controls and immutable backups across corporate endpoints, servers and Microsoft 365.

Write and tabletop an incident response plan that defines when and how the boundary is isolated and who makes that call.

Maintain current diagrams, access records and recovery test results for assessments, and review risks with your team each quarter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do TSA pipeline security directives apply to us?▼

Only if TSA has designated your company as a covered owner or operator; the directives are sent to specific companies rather than applying to every pipeline. If you've received them, you're working with requirements around a cybersecurity coordinator, incident reporting, an implementation plan and assessments. If you haven't, the same practices still make sense, and customers or insurers may ask about them anyway. Your compliance lead and counsel decide applicability and filings. We provide the IT-side controls and documentation that support whichever position you're in.

Will you make changes on our SCADA or control network?▼

Not on our own. The control network belongs to your controls engineers and integrators, and they approve and lead any change inside it. Our role is the IT side and the boundary: the business network, identities, endpoints, the DMZ, jump hosts and the firewall rules facing IT. When a boundary change needs work on the control side, we plan it together with your team, schedule it in a window they choose and document exactly what changed. That division keeps accountability clear and avoids surprises in the control room.

What's wrong with a historian that sits on both networks?▼

A dual-homed server is effectively a bridge. If an attacker compromises it from the business side, they're now one step from the control network with no firewall in between. The fix is usually a DMZ: the historian or a replica sits in its own zone, data flows out to the business side through controlled connections, and nothing on the business network talks directly to control systems. We design that with your controls team so engineers and analysts still get the data they need.

How do you handle integrator and vendor access?▼

Through a single controlled path. Vendors sign in to a hardened jump host with phishing-resistant MFA, your team approves the session, and the session is recorded. Accounts are named, not shared, and expire when a project ends. We also go hunting for old access methods, like VPN accounts from past projects, remote desktop tools left on engineering workstations and modems nobody remembers installing, and retire them with your controls team's agreement. You end up with fewer doors and a record of who used each one.

Can you help protect gas measurement and scheduling data?▼

Yes. Those systems usually run on standard Windows servers and SQL databases on the IT side, which makes them reachable by ordinary attacks. We restrict who has administrative access, patch on a schedule your measurement team agrees to, monitor the servers with managed detection and response and back them up with immutable copies. Then we test a restore so you know how long recovery takes. The goal is that after an incident you can stand behind the volumes and allocations you report.

Does API 1164 replace the TSA directives?▼

No. API Standard 1164 is an industry standard for pipeline control system cybersecurity, and many operators use it to structure their programs. The TSA directives are government requirements issued to designated operators. They overlap in many areas, such as segmentation, access control and incident planning, so work on one often supports the other. We map the IT-side controls we implement to both where it's useful, but deciding how they fit your obligations is a call for your compliance team and counsel.

Do you provide Midstream & Pipeline Operators IT Services in Houston and nearby areas?▼

Yes. LayerLogix is based in the Greater Houston area and delivers midstream & pipeline operators IT services to businesses across Houston and the surrounding communities, including The Woodlands, Spring, Katy, Sugar Land, Conroe, Cypress, and Pearland. For most Houston-area clients we can be on-site the same day when something needs hands-on attention, and our help desk is available during business hours, with after-hours emergency support. Call 713-571-2390 to check coverage for your specific address.

What does Midstream & Pipeline Operators IT Services cost for a Houston business?▼

Pricing depends on your size and what you need, so we do not publish a one-size-fits-all number — but Houston businesses generally pay a flat, predictable monthly fee rather than surprise hourly bills. We start with a free, no-obligation assessment of your current setup, then give you a clear quote in plain English with no hidden costs. That way you know exactly what you are getting and what it costs before you commit.

Ready to Get Started?

Contact LayerLogix today for a free consultation. We serve businesses throughout Houston, Dallas, Austin, and the surrounding Greater Houston area.

Schedule Free Consultation Call 888.792.8080