Press Releases

Oil & Gas ICS Cyber Security Forum

by Mark Rowe

Recently the need to protect Industrial Control Systems (ICS) from cyber threats has greatly increased and it has been stated that the Middle East Energy Sector is potentially more susceptible than anywhere else in the world. This is mainly due to lack of awareness in relation to technology development that such attacks could create particularly as there are many ICS vulnerabilities that need to be properly protected as part of an overall business cyber security strategy . Eric Byers, one of the world’s leading experts and prominent participant in next month’s Forum states “Add it up – vital networks with large number of hard to secure nodes, integrated with business systems and operating 24/7 is a significant security challenge”. Moreover Shell have added that in order to sustain security controls on industrial infrastructure we are all reliant on a complex ecosystem of people(system vendors, project engineering contractors, process operators, IT service providers and maintenance/support personnel) who require a blended set of IT/Engineering Cyber Security competencies – a skill pool which is unique and scarce.

Next month’s Forum is planned to contribute and cover such needs and will begin with 2 training workshops on critical components in aiding this lack of skills. Importantly the 2 day Forum Programme will bring all parties within the aforementioned ecosystem together to debate and provide guidance and solutions on cyber attack prevention and a new and vital aspect of this programme will be several live demonstrations from ISnSC on how to actually protect. Further workshops on ICS vulnerability protection will round out the four events.

An important aspect of the Forum is the exhibition of the latest developments from global system vendors and the launch of IndustrialProtect, a new product from BAE Systems Detica will now be included. Detica will be showcasing the solution for the first time in this region and David Garfield, MD of their Cyber Security Division stated ‘This is the first time this type of solution has been available for organisations in the critical national infrastructure. It provides a means to enable information flows that greatly increase business efficiency and operational effectiveness while protecting critical operational networks’.

The latest new additions to the event may be found at www.csuae.org

Related News

Newsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay on top of security news and events.

© 2024 Professional Security Magazine. All rights reserved.

Website by MSEC Marketing