Babel and Claroty have held the 1st Industrial Cybersecurity Conference, a leading forum in which prominent experts from the industrial sector shared experiences, knowledge and new strategies to address the growing challenges in the security and resilience of critical infrastructures.
Moderated by José Valiente, director of the Industrial Cybersecurity Centre (CCI), the discussion highlighted some of the main ‘pain points’ that determine the level of cybersecurity maturity in the sector. Among the most prominent issues, the need to define cybersecurity models compatible with the long concession periods in the OT world (reaching up to 90 years in areas such as motorway concessions) was highlighted. The protection of communications between different assets must be redundant, secure and segmented in critical assets. The absence of cybersecurity clauses in old contracts makes it very difficult to include the security measures required by regulations. The introduction of new, cheaper technologies, which in many cases lack the necessary security, also complicates organisations’ protection plans. OT cybersecurity is essential for developing more cyber-resilient systems and procedures in an environment characterised by increasingly complex and changing threats.
In addition, emphasis was placed on the importance of raising awareness across all organisational layers of the risks associated not only with security, but also with the economic and criminal consequences of non-compliance with regulations. In this regard, the experts agreed that ignorance or lack of attention to these aspects can pose a significant risk to the operations and reputation of companies.
The debate also addressed the importance of conducting a comprehensive security analysis of all industrial processes, including those that, while ancillary to the main activity, are essential to ensuring business continuity.
The meeting was attended by key figures from the sector, such as Vicente Camus, CISO at Globalvia; Juan Manuel Pérez and Jesús García Crespo, heads of OT Cybersecurity at ADIF; Máximo Yarritu Arnaez, head of Cybersecurity and Communications at UFD – Grupo Naturgy; David Tejedor, cybersecurity specialist at Finlight; Pablo Cecilio Barroso, Head of IoT & Cybersecurity at Madrileña Red de Gas; and José Antonio Sánchez Ahumada, representative of Claroty. The Babel team was represented by Juan Cornago, Mario Casado and Luis Salado.
This first meeting is positioned as a fundamental space to promote dialogue, share best practices and strengthen collaboration in an area that is becoming increasingly important for national and corporate security.