Extending the impact of STOP-IT in Norway (STOP-IT_N)

The water sector is under a rapid digital transformation, aiming at increasing the efficiency and quality of water services. With the digitalization of the water sector comes new opportunities, but the introduction of digital solutions is not without new and profound challenges, and managing risk in an increasingly digital world will require a culture shift. Moreover, entities within the sector, especially the small and medium water utilities, which are the majority in Norway, often face insufficient financial, human and technological resources. STOP-IT_N aimed at raising awareness in the Norwegian water sector on cybersecurity and at informing and guiding on it by maximizing the impact in Norway of the STOP-IT Project - Strategic, tactical and operational protection of critical water infrastructure from physical and cyber threats, EU H2020 (2017-2021) funded project. The STOP-IT_N has extensively worked on the planned dissemination activities, produced dissemination material and performed training activities while achieving the following goals: i) give a wider range of Norwegian actors access to knowledge and tools developed by the STOP-IT projects; ii) increase cybersecurity awareness, competence and the use of best practices within organizations in the Norwegian water sector; iii) establish a national network of water utilities, scientists, technology providers and expert communities to join efforts and create synergies to develop technical and procedural security measures and to identify operational and R&D gaps to prevent, detect and respond to cyber incidents and iv) increase the impact of STOP-IT on research, society and industry in Norway.

STOP-IT_N has focused on awareness raising on the topic of cyber-physical protection of water critical infrastructure through extensive dissemination actions; informing about the relevance of developing risk management plans covering both security and safety and on the necessity of concrete measures against cyber and physical threats, and their combination, have been pursued by creating dissemination materials, carrying out training activities and holding presentations for water utilities in national conferences. Along with the dissemination of the STOP-IT results, STOP-IT_N has produced a Norwegian guide for owners of water and wastewater plant to guide the adoption of security in design and operation. This document, that will be made available via Norsk Vann, will support Norwegian water utilities in identifying the weak points that should be considered in the design and construction process and which follow-up measures should be taken after the plant has been put into operation.

The convergence of sensors, processors, and actuators has transformed purely physical water systems into cyber-physical. Advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence are making cyber-physical systems unique in performance and efficiency. The emergence of cyber-physical systems holds great promise, but it also increases the exposure to cyber threats. The relevance for implementing digital technologies in the water domain has to rely on the identification of its benefit versus the potential increased vulnerability. To this end, STOP-IT has developed solutions and best practice to protect water critical infrastructure against physical and cyber threats. STOP-IT has been running for two years now and most of the solutions are ready for demonstration. While Norwegian water utilities are quite mature in protecting the water assets from physical threats, there is a need to provide solutions to detect, prevent and react to cyber threats and to help developing risk management plans for the integrated cyber-physical layers. STOP-IT_N aims at supporting the Norwegian water sector digital transformation, by using the requested funding to increase the STOP-IT impact in Norway. The activities planned are: 1 workshop with expert communities to share knowledge and identify cybersecurity gaps in practice and in research and the outcomes of the workshop will be published in a technical magazine (VANN); training activities for students and water utilities operators; participation to the leading international water conference (IWA 2020) to showcase the results of STOP-IT; the production of a practical guide, tailored to the Norwegian priorities, to introduce cyber security by design in treatment plants and to be made freely available; 1 final conference to present the guide, receive feedback for its finalization and to let directly Oslo VAV and Bergen Kommune share with other water utilities the knowledge and know-how from STOP-IT.