NATO ENSEC COE Subject Matter Expert delivered a presentation at the DSS ITSEC 2019

On 17^th of October NATO ENSEC COE Research and Lesson Learned Division‘s Subject Matter Expert Vytautas Butrimas gave a presentation on the „Cybersecurity dimension of critical energy infrastructure” at the DSS ITSEC 2019 Conference which took place in Latvia, Riga. This year the Conference attrackted more than 1200 participants including 3 ministers.

During this conference Mr. Butrimas highlighted peculiarities and challenges faced by security practitioners in protecting critical infrastructure and the technologies used by Industrial Control Systems (ICS) or Operational Technology (OT) that provide the technical foundation for modern economic life, ensuring national security and well-being of society.

During the panel discussion with cyber security and cyber defence research experts Mr. Butrimas emphasized that in IT security area a lot has been done whereas industrial side is still 10 years behind. He explained that protecting the IT system and protection of industrial operation processes are two completely different things: first one prioritizes confidentiality whereas the second gives priority to safety and availability. Mr. Butrimas shared his experience how these clashes were reflected during the preparation of Lithuania’s Cyber Security Law.

All speakers agreed that additional regulation is needed when cyber-attacks are considered as organized by another state, state actor or war like scenarios as they are excluded from insurance claims and there are no laws which would cover this field.

The DSS ITSEC conference is annual vendor independent cybersecurity event that since 2010 has grown and strengthened ties between top ITsec professionals, leading IT companies and governmental officials to ensure Baltic sea region’s security and raise cyber security awareness through private and public sectors.

To view video footage of the conference please follow link provided below:

16^th day general session: https://www.facebook.com/DSSITSEC/videos/688528324963820/

17^th day general session: https://www.facebook.com/DSSITSEC/videos/553138502103918/