Israeli-Polish Cooperation in Cybersecurity at Energy Sector

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

The digitalization of the energy and infrastructure field in recent years has made it more vulnerable to cyber threats. Providing cybersecurity to critical infrastructure and energy installations has become a major task, as attacks on the computerized systems of these installations might result in severe physical damages.

The sophistication of the attacks and their volume, especially against critical infrastructure, requires an international collaboration, especially when taking into account that cyber has no borders.

In 2017, cybersecurity challenges led the European Commission to define two high-level objectives in its policy regarding cyber threats in the energy sector: Secure energy systems that are providing essential services to the European society, and protect the data in the energy systems and the privacy of the citizens.

In recent years, Israel has been consolidating its position as a leading cyber power which supplies groundbreaking cyber solutions to international corporations and governmental organizations. Israel Electric Corporation recently signed a cooperation MOU with the Polish power grid operator PSE. The Polish government-owned company is responsible for the electricity supply in the country with a population of nearly 40 million, considered by its size as the sixth state in Europe.

PSE has shown great interest in the Israeli cyber technology and the accumulative experience in securing critical infrastructure, according to Israel Electric Corp. announcement.  

PSE had said in the past that its IT systems are being regularly targeted by cybercriminals, but the attempts are successfully repelled, as reported by international news agencies. At the end of 2016 PSE started a computer emergency response team (CERT) to help maintain cybersecurity.