Colombia. Thanks to the documents CONPES 3701 of 2.011 and 3854 of 2.016 public companies, the defense sectors such as military and police are protected from cyberattacks. This protection extends in part to the critical infrastructure and citizens who now have a police cybercrime office available to make their complaints. However, the private sector, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, has a long way to go to face the risks of the twenty-first century.
That is why one of the main topics that will be addressed in the VI version of Automatisa, the event specialized in industrial automation, Instrumentation and Plant Intelligence and Security of the Region, which will be held from June 14 to 16 in Corferias (Automatisa 2017), will be Industrial Cybersecurity, which will have the participation of national and international experts in the field.
Diego Zuluaga, an information security specialist who has been working with the country's energy sector for nearly 15 years, reveals that the absence of serious protection systems in the private sector is due to a lack of general culture on the subject of Cybersecurity. "People need to understand that it is a matter of personal and business protection, a first-rate need that has ceased to be something distant or luxurious."
He added that the cultural issue must be taken to the roots, "we must take this information to schools, teach the new generations, to learn that, just as you have to cross the street looking sideways, you have to protect yourself in cyberspace."
Maximillian Kon, director of Wise Plant WiseCourses and WiseSecurity, an Argentine expert who will give a lecture on the subject at Automatisa 2017, pointed out that in the issue of Cybersecurity Latin America is lagging behind other countries such as France, and that the national investment of each territory of the region is not enough, he also pointed out that industrial Cybersecurity, Focused on machinery and production plants tends to be forgotten when measures are implemented.
Kon points out that, in countries such as Colombia, the lack of knowledge and professionals in this area can cause resources to be poorly invested when spent on systems not suitable for each particular case and that in the long run it opens security gaps and generates problems.
In this regard, Zuluaga believes that this phenomenon is feasible due to the lack of education in these issues. "Universities lack basic chairs of information protection and security, there is an academic absence that directly impacts the general culture about Cybersecurity."
In Colombia, thanks to measures implemented by the national government and through documents issued by the National Planning Directorate, there are protection mechanisms for public entities and the country's critical infrastructure. In this sense, the electricity sector according to Zuluaga has been protected since 2012, but this is the time for medium and small companies to appropriate the issue and start implementing their own Cybersecurity guidelines.
In that sense, Kon and Zuluaga, specify that it is vital to keep in mind what you want to protect and what are the priorities of the company in terms of Cybersecurity. Once the priorities are defined, some appropriate methodology can be used, "there are good methodologies in the world, but awareness of implementation and adequacy is needed," zuluaga said.
The president of ISA Colombia, José Luis Villa, affirms that conferences such as those of Maximillian Kon, and experiences such as that of the energy sector in Colombia, among others that will be part of the Industrial Automation Congress, are the basis for understanding the importance, shortcomings, strengths and challenges of automation technology.
Automatisa 2017, an event organized by ISA Colombia and Corferias, is considered a unique event in its category. It allows to show and exchange knowledge, equipment, technologies and solutions and generates an ideal space for entrepreneurs and suppliers to establish high quality and qualified contacts to apply cutting-edge technology in their sectors.
