Being cyber resilient to protect your data

Changing landscape the reality now for our industry is that it is no longer if you may have a security breach but when. With an ever-changing threat landscape, it is more important than ever before to protect your data and have suitable plans in place to recover efficiently.

With the rapid pace of change in technologies and growing challenges, many organisations are striving to find the balance between simplifying technology and designing technology solutions. . As an industry continuing to face different pressures in an already complex and diverse landscape, we must continue to evolve our environment to maximise the benefits of secure digital and data-driven solutions.

The importance of cyber resilience the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) specifies the definition of Cyber Resilience as “the ability to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse conditions, stresses, attacks or compromises on systems that use or are enabled by cyber resources.” Due to the breadth of diverse data sources, high data velocity and greater data veracity, we, as industry must stay on top of utilising cyber resources and solutions to be prepared for the increasing potential of cyber-attacks.

Driving Cyber Resilience At Sword we utilise recognised cyber security frameworks and fit-for-purpose security solutions to assist our customers in their cyber resilience planning such as cyber risk awareness and planning, attack surface awareness, lifecycle management and cloud security. Without appropriate cyber-resilient solutions and recovery plans organisations will face extended downtime at increasingly high costs.

Organisations today must look at what type of data they hold, whether its internal business, customer data or business critical data. Data today provides significant opportunities to run your business but also exposes organisations to many risks should that data be compromised or breached. What loss would you experience from downtime or GDPR implications? What reputational damage may impact ongoing or futurebusiness? These implications are only touching the surface of what needs to be considered on a continuous basis.

Mitigating risks to data As part of mitigating risk it is advised to start with understanding and identifying risks to your organisation. Going through a risk assessment, treatment and prioritisation plan allows organisation leaders to make decisions based on the probability and impact they may have.

Understanding your attack surface and how many access points to your business exist, allows for the beginnings of a cyber resilience plan to be created. It has long been the focus for many organisations to concentrate on virtual data perimeter security utilising firewalls to create boundaries between data and external threats.

With the constant threat and risks to organisations, there must be a constant focus on security practices, threat playbooks and Immutable backups & recovery. Additionally, it is vital that organisations ensure employees are up to date with the latest end-user security training available to them.

The future of cyber resilience Over the past three years, the energy industry has been rapidly progressing with digital transformations whilst continuing the road to net zero and maximising operational efficiency. With this transformation additional challenges arise with digital adoption and ensuring staff are up to date with training. Sword work with customers to provide an array of security solutions to ensure organisations can continue achieving business outcomes without the burden of potential cyber threats and the damage that will inevitability be caused by these threats.

Being cyber resilient to be data driven If we, as an industry, are to achieve data driven outcomes, we need to ensure that data is placed at the heart of our operational and project thinking. The only way we do this is by ensuring our data sits in a reliable and secure environment and is protected with sustainable security plans to maintain a high level of cyber resilience.

Event Join us on the 4th of May for our event: -'Cyber resilience in a multi-cloud world'

The event will be held in The Chester Hotel in Aberdeen, where we will be joined by our partners Cisco and Cohesity.Please contact craig.neilson@swordgroup. com to register for free.

RENEWABLES

89% of supply chain firms say renewable energy is biggest economic opportunity in Scotland, new study finds

Scottish Renewables launches fourth edition of annual Supply Chain Impact Statement

45 organisations featured in statement thriving within renewable energy industry

Almost 90% of Scotland’s renewable energy supply chain believe renewable energy is the biggest economic opportunity facing Scotland, a study for Scottish Renewables’ Supply Chain Impact Statement has found.

Scottish Renewables today (April 20) launches the fourth edition of its Supply Chain Impact Statement, an annual showcase of the businesses and organisations working across Scotland’s flourishing renewable energy industry.

Supply chain businesses provide products and services which enable renewable energy projects to be built and operated. Examples include the Old Library, a family hotel in the Scottish Borders, Blargoans, a family-run business that provides industrial supplies, transportation, recruitment and PPE, and subsea experts Balmoral.

The Statement highlights how Scotland’s supply chain, which stretches from the Borders to the islands, is utilising its expertise, skills and capabilities to deliver specialist work across all renewable energy technologies, including on and offshore wind, solar and energy storage.

Of the 45 organisations featured in this year’s Supply Chain Impact Statement: 89% think renewable energy is the largest economic opportunity for Scotland 94% said they have invested in upskilling as a result of clean power o pportunities and; 83% said they have recruited new employees as a result of opportunities in the renewable energy industry.

Scottish Renewables is the voice of the renewable energy industry in Scotland and businesses featured in this year’s Supply Chain Impact Statement, include: Dundee-based Ace Aquatec, which develops innovative products in the offshore marine sectors.

Peel Ports Group’s King George V Dock, on the river Clyde, which supports the development and ongoing maintenance of onshore wind farms across Scotland.

Dundee-based Coast Renewable Services, which supplies trained personnel to wind farm projects for diagnostic, repair, maintenance, installation and inspection works.

Subsea7’s Scottish sites, which have supported more than 3GW of projects including the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of foundation and cable packages on the Beatrice and Seagreen offshore wind farms.

StorTera, of Edinburgh - an energy storage innovator aiming to develop a truly sustainable and low-cost large-scale battery.

Emma Harrick, Head of Energy Transition and Supply Chain at Scottish Renewables, said: “Scotland’s renewable energy supply chain continues to play a vital role in delivering the major infrastructure projects, such as onshore and offshore wind farms, that will help us achieve our net-zero ambitions.

“The Supply Chain Impact Statement gives us a real insight into how project developers are working closely and investing in the local supply chain, from innovative start-ups to established organisations, and how businesses are supporting a renewable energy industry that 89% consider to be the largest economic opportunity in Scotland.

“The businesses and organisations celebrated in the document demonstrate only a small proportion of the complex supplier network required to deploy net-zero technologies and there will be more and more opportunities for our supply chain to grow further as we build more renewable energy projects across Scotland.

“The renewable energy industry in Scotland really is thriving but we can’t take our eye off the ball. Both the UK and Scottish Governments must work with industry to build on the successes highlighted in this statement and support the supply chain by investing in the innovation, infrastructure and technology needed to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead of us.

“Our industry already supports more than 27,000 jobs and is worth £5.6 billion to the Scottish economy. With almost 22,000 undergraduates studying renewables-related subjects it is clear that we are on the road to growing the specialist supply chain we will need to fulfil the future pipeline of renewable energy projects in Scotland.”

Support for the Scottish Renewables Supply Chain Impact Statement comes from headline sponsor SSE Renewables and sponsors EDF Renewables and Ocean Winds.

Jamie Maxton, Head of External Affairs at SSE Renewables, said:

“Scotland stands on the cusp of a once in a generation opportunity to put green jobs at the heart of its future economic prosperity - whether it’s from our mature onshore wind market, our huge potential pipeline of offshore wind, or the chance to lead the world in the development of floating offshore wind technology.

“Scotland needs green manufacturing jobs and we’re working tirelessly to make that happen. As a national renewable energy champion, SSE Renewables is using the strength of our enviable 8GW-plus Scottish offshore construction and development pipeline. Along with partners at University of Strathclyde and National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, we’re also at the forefront of grasping the huge opportunities from the circular economy which could generate more than 20,000 jobs by 2035.

“At SSE Renewables, we stand ready to work in collaboration with developers, suppliers and government to deliver the green jobs Scotland needs.”

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE