Agreement on cybersecurity standards in energy.

The ISA99 standards committee and the NATO Energy Security Center for Excellence have signed a letter of intent for cooperation in the exchange of information and collaboration pertaining to the application of cybersecurity standards and guidelines in the energy sector.

The NATO Energy Security Center for Excellence (NATO ENSEC COE) became interested in applying the ISA/IEC 62443 standards during the course of a 2018-2019 cyber risk study of the industrial control systems used in the NATO Central Europe pipeline system, according to Vytautas Butrimas, who spearheaded the agreement and now represents NATO ENSEC COE on ISA99. “With this agreement,” Butrimas stated, “we look forward to exploring new ways of collaboration with ISA to improve the safety, reliability, and performance of the backbone technologies that support economic activity, national security, and well-being of our societies.”

The ISA/IEC 62443 standards are developed primarily by the ISA99 committee with simultaneous review and adoption by the Geneva-based International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). ISA99 draws on the input of cybersecurity experts across the globe in developing consensus standards that are applicable to all industry sectors and critical infrastructure, providing a flexible and comprehensive framework to address and mitigate current and future security vulnerabilities in industrial automation and control systems.

The agreement with NATO ENSEC COE is the latest in a string of notable milestones in the ongoing development and growing global application of the ISA/IEC 62443 series. It follows a previous decision by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe to integrate the standards into its Common Regulatory Framework on Cybersecurity, which serves as an official UN policy position statement for Europe.

•The ISA/IEC 62443 standards are available here. In addition, ISA offers extensive training resources on cybersecurity as well as safety, fundamentals, and other topics in industrial automation and control systems.

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