26 CYBER SECURITY 27 actors – iincluding homeowners who are able to produce resilience by establishing common expectations regarding and sell electricity directly – are entering the ecosystem. cybersecurity roles and responsibilities between the diffe- rent actors of the industry’s value chain. “Our security is dependent on the weakest link,” says Ka- “It is crucial for all stakeholders in the value chain to riger. “This is not about our data. This is about protecting embrace a collaborative and risk informed cybersecurity our assets and continuity of an essential service to society.. approach to adapt and ensure a secure ecosystem,” says The highly interdependent and increasingly complex na- de Moura. ture of our industry makes it necessary to address cyberse- curity beyond the boundaries of our own companies.” “We cannot do it alone as it takes an ecosystem to address Fragmented company practices and government regula- cyber risks,” says Christophe Blassiau, CISO and head of tions make it difficult to have a global and harmonized digital security at Schneider Electric and a member of the approach. Forum electricity cyber resilience community. “The indus- try needs to collaborate.” The same is true in other industries, which is why the Fo- rum envisages to use this pilot with the electricity sector to The Forum’s ability “to bridge all of these parties and the templatize the approach and scale across other industries, regulators and political and geographical differences is De Moura says. fairly unique,” says Floris Van Den Dool, Managing Direc- tor, Information Security Services, Europe, Africa and Latin At the annual meeting in Davos in 2019 the Forum electri- America at Accenture, a founding partner of the Centre for city working group on cyber security presented a guide for Cybersecurity and anchor partner of the Cyber Resilience board members of electricity companies. in Electricity program. “The trick is figuring out how to get everyone mobilized.” During the past year the Forum’s Cyber Resilience commu- nity has been focusing on influencing organizational J.L.S change by promoting the effective implementation of the board principles for cyber resilience in the electricity ecosystem published in Feb. 2019; enabling dialogue on policy between industry and policy makers to support a more streamlined approach; and improving supply chain En Garde The World Economic Forum is helping providers of The World Economic Forum’s critical infrastructure defend against cyber attacks Top 10 Messages On Cyber Security In Davos It’s every company’s nightmare: the IT system is infected nologies such as biometrics, artificial intelligence, machine by trojan malware or ransomware, causing millions of dol- learning, and the Internet of Things, says de Moura. lars in lost business or reputational damage. The power system is one the most complex and critical The problem is magnified for electricity companies or air- infrastructure since any major impact to the electricity During Davos 2020 The Forum plans to convey the peration across the public and the private sectors lines because risks could have cascading effects, potential- grid could generate massive blackouts and have disastrous message that it is the responsibility of all public is vital. Among the dimensions to be prioritized are ly resulting in major economic losses, industrial disruption financial and societal consequences. For example, a winter and corporate leaders to take ownership of the information-sharing, business cooperation with and, in some cases, human casualties. blackout in mainland France for just six hours would result challenge to ensure global cybersecurity and law enforcement agencies, and skills and capacity The Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity is helping providers in losses of over €1.5 billion, according to a simulation digital trust. development, particularly in emerging economies. of critical infrastructure by convening communities of cited in a Forum report. Board and C-Suite members need to gain a better And, the Forum plans to tell leaders that innovation different industries such as electricity and aviation to de- understanding of the cyber risks to which their in cybersecurity and rapidly evolving technologies, fine the most salient challenges and systemic risks, strate- Complicating matters is that the electricity sector has organization is exposed and of the degree of the such as AI, identity management and quantum gic approaches that could mitigate them, and increase the some unique challenges, says Rosa Kariger, Global Chief organization’s cyber readiness. Leaders may need computing, call for greater investment to stay level of cyber resilience across the various ecosystems, Information Security Officer (CISO) at electricity firm to rethink organizational structures and gover- ahead of cybercriminals who are adopting those says Georges de Moura, Head of Industry Solutions at Iberdrola and the co-chair of the Forum’s electricity sector nance to enable a better cybersecurity posture. technologies even faster and to their advantage. the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity. cyber resilience community. Both public and private organizations need to Collaboration is more important than ever because new improve their cyber crisis management, develop technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution offer both Among them is the complexity of the ecosystem, which holistic response and recovery plans, including a opportunities and greater risks. Physical and digital things includes highly interdependent infrastructures operated crisis communication strategy, to limit economic, are becoming increasingly connected, from critical in- by retailers, distributors and generators. As the sector reputational and legal consequences. Global coo- frastructure assets to people and data, by harnessing tech- becomes more decentralized an increasing number of new