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ISA Executive Director presents at US government Cybersecurity Framework workshop
November 22, 2013
ISA leader advocates two-part approach to industrial cybersecurity
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA (15 November 2013) – Protecting industry and critical infrastructure from cyberattack requires the implementation of comprehensive industrial automation and control systems (IACS) cybersecurity standards as well as the use of IACS components that have been certified to conform to these standards, said Patrick Gouhin, Executive Director and CEO of the International Society of Automation (ISA), at a US government cybersecurity meeting held earlier today in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
“In addition to having industry-consensus IACS cybersecurity standards in place, asset owners need to utilize IACS product suppliers and components that have been tested and certified to be cybersecure,” emphasized Gouhin, speaking at a workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the US Department of Commerce.
The workshop, the fifth in a series, was conducted at the Hunt Library on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University and attracted more than 400 attendees. The gathering drew leading cybersecurity experts across America and the world—as well as other key stakeholders in industry, academia, and government—to weigh in on the merits of a national Cybersecurity Framework called for by US President Barack Obama.
The purpose of the workshop was to elicit further stakeholder input on the preliminary draft of the Cybersecurity Framework, consider any changes to the draft, and to discuss strategies for the plan’s implementation.
Among the topics covered at the workshop included:
- Considerations for small- and medium-size businesses
- How to use the framework
- Voluntary critical infrastructure cybersecurity program
- Research and development
- Framework ecosystem development
- Privacy and civil liberties