Emil Boc: Cyber ​​security is no longer an optional matter, it is a necessity, even more so in the energy sector

Cyber ​​security is no longer an optional matter, it is already a necessity, even more so in the energy sector, and it must become a coherent, concrete public policy component, said the mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Emil Boc, at the Energy Cyber ​​Security Forum.

“Cyber ​​security, as said by many officials, is no longer an optional matter, it is already a necessity, even more so in the energy field. We live in beautiful times, in which technology brings us the greatest advantages in the history of mankind , digitization, but equally what technology offers us, the fabulous advantages, unique in the entire history of this Planet, these advantages do not only come with good things, but these advantages also come with dangers and especially related to security Cybernetics. I think each of us has faced a virus on a computer or phone. If we raise this problem on a global scale, let’s imagine that a hacker intervenes in the energy distribution network and the distribution of electricity is paralyzed. “thousands of citizens are faced with difficulties in being able to use energy. You don’t have energy, you are practically deprived of many things related to the quality of life and the provision of essential services for the population”, explained Boc, Agerpres reads.

He pointed out that there was a warning that we are only a few clicks away from a cyber disaster, thereby signalling that if we are not proactive, “disaster is upon us” and then the consequences are dramatic.

“That’s why I welcome this initiative that comes to gather ideas, to offer solutions and at the same time to give us a road map regarding what we each have to do, from the local, national, functional level, public and private authorities and not lastly, the European dimension that we are part of. This forum is a forum of good practices, on the one hand, but also of innovative ideas for what solutions mean for the future”, the mayor pointed out.

Emil Boc also stated that, equally, what he was able to ascertain from the national experience, but also from the local public administration, is that this matter of cyber security is no longer only a competence of IT professionals.

“Usually, we tend to say that it’s IT people’s job to take care of cyber security, we take care of the rest. That’s not the case anymore. Cyber ​​security obviously has the IT component as its central level, but it has to become a component of coherent, concrete public policy, and especially from the design phase of the infrastructures that we are creating. That is, we should not wait for this cyber security component at the end of the line, that maybe it’s too late. It needs to be approved already in the structures or infrastructures we create, from the beginning. If we do that, our lives will be much easier, having cyber security already integrated into the design processes. we design the new solutions. And I think this can no longer be avoided. So, beyond awareness, to think of cyber security as a stage from the beginning and not a final one in the protection of what we have, I think it’s something we can avoid”, said Boc.

Distribuţie Energie Electrică Romania (DEER) organizes, between November 13-14, in Cluj Napoca, the second edition of the Energy Cybersecurity Forum, which aims to bring together national authorities, experts from the energy and IT sectors, such as and representatives of universities and the cyber security industry.