Doha, October 25 (QNA) - The National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) on Wednesday announced issuing the recommendations for standards of securing operational technology in the electricity and water sector (ISA 62443), in partnership with the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa).
In a statement today, the agency said that these recommendations eye adopting the best international practices and standards in the electricity and water sector, by adopting and approving the international standard (ISA 62443), which is one of the international standards developed by the International Control Association and the International Electrical Commission, is in order to enhance the ability of operational technology to tackle cyber threats, and to provide a cybersecurity framework for organizations to enhance resilience plans.
The recommendations included the need to consider appointing an expert or specialist in operational technology security in all relevant institutions in the electricity and water sector. the expert's role lies in developing strategic plans and following up on their implementation with regard to assessing cyber risks, best practices for confronting them, and raising the level of internal systems in the institutions concerned in terms of cyber security.
As part of the NCSA's awareness of the importance of the human element and ensuring and raising cybersecurity readiness in the electricity and water sector in the country, the second session of the training program on standards of securing operational technology in the electricity and water sector was launched, in partnership with Kahramaa earlier of this week, following the end of the first courses last week. The program aims to train 70 specialists in information security and operational technology.
Director of Governance and National Cyber Assurance Affairs at NCSA Eng. Dana Al Abdullah said that a series of training courses have been launched on applying operational technology security standards in the electricity and water sector, which will extend throughout the beginning of next year, in order establish the agency's role in developing and updating policies, governance mechanisms, controls and guidelines to enhance cybersecurity, and circulate them to relevant institutions and raise the level of cybersecurity in vital sectors.
Commenting on this announcement, Director of the Electrical Control Department at Kahramaa, Eng. Muhammed Yousef Al Kubaisi, praised this step, considering that it bears strategic importance, coming from the fact that the strength and reliability of the country's electricity and water infrastructure is largely related to the strength of its cyber security, which reflects positively on the stability of electrical and water supply operations in the country, which in turn is largely related to economic, social and security stability in general.
The recommendations on the standards of securing operational technology in the electricity and water sector come as a culmination of the efforts of the NCSA in assessing the national cybersecurity situation in the electricity and water sector in cooperation with the (Kahramaa), which the agency began in 2021, and included an assessment of a number of electrical power generation and distribution stations in the State of Qatar.
NCSA has also developed the necessary plans to develop cybersecurity readiness levels in the electricity and water sector, to reach high levels of flexibility and business continuity in this important sector.
This step comes as part of the agency's continuous endeavor to enhance cybersecurity and protect operational technology, in cooperation with its main partners in the important infrastructure sectors of vital information, stressing its role in enhancing and achieving its vision of being the trusted partner for pioneering a secure cyberspace that achieves safety and prosperity for the State of Qatar. (QNA)