Water utilities trained in cyber and physical security

The European research project STOP-IT, which is dealing with the protection of water infrastructures from cyber and physical threats, has now begun with training activities for water utilities.

The project has already delivered several technologies and solutions for assessing and treating risks at strategic and tactical level, among them the integrative platform of the risk analysis and evaluation toolkit, the cyber-physical stress-testing platform and the asset vulnerability assessment tool. STOP-IT also features solutions for the cyber and physical protection in water critical infrastructures at operational level, among them the toolbox of technologies for securing critical water infrastructure assets from physical threats, a cyber threat sharing system and a toolbox of technologies for securing IT and SCADA systems, just to name a few examples. STOP-IT is now progressing to the next phase by carrying out training activities for water utilities that seek to advance their risk management and security processes by utilizing STOP-IT solutions.

The tools for strategic and tactical planning were already tested with hands-on sessions by risk management officers of four different water utilities in Germany (Hessenwasser), Spain (EMASAGRA), Belgium (De Watergroep) and Norway (Bergen). Through a presentation and a live demonstration in form of a webinar, participants were introduced to technologies of the risk assessment and treatment framework. After obtaining insights on how STOP-IT tools function at strategic and tactical level, the utilities got hands-on experience with the solutions, guided by detailed training material and real-time remote support from the technologies’ developers. Their feedback on the usability and usefulness of the tools has been received and will be implemented to further training activities on other STOP-IT technologies, planned with decision makers and staff at water utilities that are responsible for real-time operations.