Cyber security and implications for national infrastructure

Information security (or cyber security as it is popularly known) is an increasing problem in the context of the national infrastructure. In the past, most control system were isolated and little understood by the world at large, they are now increasingly connected to other systems, their functionality is more widely known, and they are more often based on standard well-known components. This change brings benefits as well as problems, since standard and well-known protective techniques can be used. NISCC has been tasked with "mitigating the risk to the critical national infrastructure (CNI) from electronic attack". To this end we work closely with the owners and operators of CNI elements, with system vendors and with relevant government departments. This collaborative approach is starting to produce results, in terms of handling vulnerabilities, securing CNI systems and in the handling of incidents. This presentation would look how these issues are currently handled, and what developments are planned in the future.