Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation “Kahramaa" signs a memorandum of understanding with the National Cyber Security Agency to establish a framework of cooperation between the two parties and strengthening the work in the field of cyber security.
H.E. Eng. Essa Bin Hilal Al-Kuwari, President of Kahramaa, H.E. Eng. Abdul Rahman Bin Ali Al-Farahid Al-Maliki, President of the National Cyber Security Agency, and several directors and heads of departments attended the ceremony.
The MoU aims at following the best international standards and practices in both the electricity and water sectors to enhance operational technology, respond to cyberthreats, and to improve the cyber security in general. It will include developing the corporation's framework, policies, and guidelines to increase its immunity, protect its interests, and ensure its proper functioning.
The MoU also includes cooperation between the two parties to increase the efficiency of cyber security and the flexibility of critical information infrastructure and operational technology in the electricity and water sectors. Moreover, it includes sharing knowledge and experience, developing the skills of cybersecurity workers in the electricity and water sectors, developing training programs to protect critical information infrastructure and operational technology, and monitoring and sharing private domestic and international risks.
The MoU also includes the design and implementation of programs and initiatives to develop cyber maturity levels for the electricity and water sectors, and the application of local and global standards in cyber security and operational technology.
In addition to developing plans and frameworks to address challenges and threats, the MoU seeks to ensure cyber security in Kahramaa by setting recommendations to assess the national security and cyber security situation in the electricity and water sector, which the Agency has begun since 2021 and includes several power plants in Qatar.
he MoU aims at following the best international standards and practices in both the electricity and water sectors to enhance operational technology, respond to cyberthreats, and to improve the cyber security in general
H.E. Eng. Essa Bin Hilal Al-Kuwari, President of Kahramaa, praised the efforts made by both sides: “In this regard, we aspire to further this cooperation, to address attacks and accidents that may affect the power's grid's operational infrastructure, and to take proactive steps to assess risks that can undermine economic stability, cause damage, and affect public health and safety. Through this cooperation, we also aim at identifying threats and hastening responses, ensuring conformity with global standards, and using the latest software to prevent the disruption of services."
On the same issue, H.E. Eng. Abdul Rahman Bin Ali Al-Farahid Al-Maliki, President of the National Cyber Security Agency, stated that the Agency established and updated policies, governance mechanisms, and setting guidelines to enhance cyber security in coordination with relevant stakeholders; it also worked to disseminate these guidelines and policies, follow-up with relevant corporations, and upgrade cyber security in critical sectors. This agreement comes as part of the National Cyber Security Agency's solid efforts to assess the national cyber security situation in the electricity and water sectors in cooperation with Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation “Kahramaa" in addition to increasing the efficiency and readiness of critical functions and critical information infrastructure in the electricity and water sectors, noting that cooperation between the two sides has started since 2021.
On the 25th of February 2024, the first training course was launched for both the third and fourth levels as part of the second initiative that will be extended untill next year, including a series of practical and training courses which will aim at training more than 60 participants to acquire the skills needed to test and implement cyber security measures for industrial control systems to promote the cyber security levels to detect, analyze, fix, and deal with potential cyber hazards.
It is worth mentioning that the National Cyber Security Agency in cooperation with Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), on the 15th of October last year, launched the first initiative to adopt the best standards for securing operational technology in the electricity and water sector, which aims to adopt global best practices and standards in the electricity and water sector based on the industry security and control standard (ISA-IEC-62443) related to cyber security in operational technology, an international standard developed by the International Society for Automation and the International Electrotechnical Commission that focuses on providing guidance and best practices for the safety of operational technology systems. It aims to strengthen operational technology's ability to respond to cyberthreats and provide a framework for corporations to strengthen resilience plans.