NATO Energy Security Center for Excellence and ISA signed a Cooperative Agreement on Cybersecurity Standards

The NATO Energy Security Center for Excellence and the ISA99 standards committee have signed a cooperative agreement pertaining to the application of cybersecurity standards and guidelines in the energy sector.

The 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. Mr. Vytautas Butrimas conducted the study and also lead the initiative for the agreement and now represents NATO ENSEC COE on ISA99. According Butrimas “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 ISA/IEC 62443 standards are available at http://www.isa.org/findstandards