from Gulf-Times
The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR), through its Qatar Computer Emergency Response Team (Q-CERT), organised Secure Energy 2013, a conference that highlighted the latest information security trends, challenges and risks to help organisations in the country better manage information security in the critical energy sector, in addition to Q-CERT’s relevant projects and case studies.“Qatar’s progress in cyber- security in the energy sector; a vital sector for Qatar’s national economy, is being recognised the world over. The balanced anti-cyber threat mechanisms based on a modern regulatory framework and the adoption of an anticipatory monitoring and assessment approach together with awareness-raising programmes have positioned Qatar as a leading country in cyber- security. In fact Japan CERT, for instance, is keen to replicate the Qatari-made ICS Security Guideline, translate it into Japanese and apply it to relevant energy sector corporations,” said Khalid al-Hashimi, executive director, CSS/Q-CERT, speaking at the opening of the conference. “The annual conference serves as a perfect platform to raise awareness on information security in the sector by sharing industry best practices and latest trends,” he said. Q-CERT aims to enhance the robustness of the cyber-security ecosystem in Qatar through a host of cyber security policies and technical solutions that have been locally drafted and modified. Moreover, Q-CERT also plans to engage more with established research institutes, universities and other relevant organisations to conduct research that would help improve Qatar’s defence systems and to address risks the country faces. Those Qatari and Arab professionals will work on providing solutions developed locally and build small and medium-sized enterprises to invest in research findings and promote them through modern marketing channels. Omar Sherin, Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Section manager, Q-CERT, shared his insights about Information Security Risk Management in ICS and announced that ictQATAR, will launch an online application for energy organisations across to measure their compliance with the new ICS Security Guideline (SCADA) once it’s released in Qatar. The new ICS Security Guideline has been developed following Q-CERT’s extensive consultations with energy corporations countrywide to make it localised with a Qatari approach and keeping abreast with latest technologies, he said.The one-day conference, held at Crown Plaza Hotel, Doha, featured several other discussions and case studies in the ICS threat landscape, challenges in securing ICS operation and other key areas of relevance to information security in the sector. Speakers included Peter Panholzer (Limes Security) who is co-author of +SECURE; Ibrahim Hamad (Dolphin Energy), Jonathan Pollet, founder, Red Tiger Security; Jim Gilsinn, co-chair of ISA99/IEC 62443; and Mounir Kamal Incident handling and Forensics Section manager, Q-CERT.
