Category: Association News

With respect to the significance of cyber defence of energy sector, with the support of NATO Science for Peace and Security Program, a five-day course was conducted in Ukraine under the hosting of the Ukrainian institute of Center for Security and Defence Studies (CSDS) with the partnership of the Institute for Security and Safety, Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences based in Germany. As being a part of the organizational committee, IACIPP also supported the event.

The Association's Caspian and MENA Region Director, Ayhan Gücüyener, participated the event as a lecturer and present on the "Cyber Defence in the Energy Security Context: Understanding the Vulnerabilities, Taking the Actions".

In a modern World of rapid technological changes it is an existential matter for every nation to strengthen its cyber defence. In addition, in case of a broad and sophisticated cyber attack targeting our vital critical infrastructures, the result would be catastrophic. In a rapidly digitalized world our telecommunication networks, water systems and energy infrastructures are becoming more and more vulnerable to cyber threats. However, among those, energy infrastructures are the most favourite target for hackers who know well that a big black out could cause a massive chaos and create a significant economic damage.

As a result, cyber vulnerabilities of energy infrastructures emerges as a crucial topic. The high significance of cyber defence for energy security is caused by twofold reasons. On the one hand, there is strong dependence of economy and society from energy sector. On another hand, there is an increasing trend of sophisticated cyber-attacks directed on energy companies and particular facilities all around the globe. Therefore, cyber security should be precisely considered beside physical protection that was dominated in last century, and comprehensive approach of cyber-physical protection should be implemented on critical infrastructure facilities.

The International Association of Critical Infrastructure Protection Professionals (IACIPP) is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Bill Bailey, BA(Hons) MA, MCIL, PhD. as Regional Director – Australasia

Bill Bailey is currently a security management consultant working in the oil and gas industry predominately in Papua New Guinea. Bill also remains an Adjunct Senior Lecturer with Edith Cowan University, Security Research Centre, Perth, Australia after having taught in the Security Science Department, specialising in: counter insurgency, terrorism and countering terrorism, critical infrastructure protection, security management, physical security, security, health and safety, business continuity, strategic risk and emergency management.

Bill served as an Inspector with the Royal Hong Kong Police, Tactical Unit and was a trained Terrorist Negotiator before becoming a security and risk management specialist in Africa for the Oil and Gas industry. Bill has extensive experience of managing security in hostile and difficult environments having dealt with numerous disaster situations, including coup d’états in Equatorial Guinea 2004, Mauritania in 2004/2005 and a ‘Hi-Jack’ at Hong Kong Airport in 1978. Contracts include: Exxon Mobil in Kenya, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea; with Woodside Australian Energy in Australia, Mauritania and Senegal. In Algeria: First Calgary Petroleum, BP-Amoco, Bechtel, Halliburton Energy, and Amerada-Hess. Further contracts with: Control Risks Group, Stirling FMC, Triton Energy, Jet Air, Hess Energy; Pride Forasol, Virgin Atlantic, Schlumberger, ABB Group, PTTEP, Oil Search Ltd and Talisman Energy

His primary role will be to develop closer relationships with the Regional authorities and stakeholders and raise the profile organisation throughout the Australasian region.

John Donlon QM Chairman of the IACIPP said: “We are extremely pleased to have a new director of Bill’s calibre. His depth of experience in both the public and private sector worldwide will be of tremendous value to us as we continue to develop the range of programmes we offer the CIP community.”

The International Association of Critical Infrastructure Protection Professionals (IACIPP) is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Frédéric Petit as Regional Director – North America

Frédéric Petit is a Research Scientist specialising in critical infrastructure interdependencies and resilience at Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Petit leads the development of methodologies for the assessment of preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, and overall resilience capabilities of facilities, communities, and regions. He also lends his expertise to work on risk, vulnerability and threat analysis of critical infrastructure. Dr. Petit received his PhD from the École Polytechnique de Montreal in Civil Engineering focusing on vulnerability analysis techniques for critical infrastructure and dependencies on cybernetics. After an initial formation in earth sciences and civil engineering, Dr. Petit has specialized in risk management and business continuity since 2002. Dr. Petit is member of various program committees for conferences such as the Symposium on Risk Management and Cyber-Informatics (RMCI) and the Critical Infrastructure Symposium (CIS)..

His primary role will be to develop closer relationships with the Regional authorities and stakeholders and raise the profile organisation within the USA and Canada.

John Donlon QPM Chairman of the IACIPP said: We are delighted to have a colleague of Frédéric’s caliber representing and promoting the work of the organization in North America. He has an incredibly impressive CV in the field of critical infrastructure protection so I am delighted to formally welcome him to the team.

The International Association of Critical Infrastructure Protection Professionals (IACIPP) is delighted to announce the appointment of Ayhan Gücüyener as the new Regional Director for the Caspian and Middle East North Africa.

Ayhan was formerly a researcher for the Center on Foreign Policy and Security in Hazar Strategy Institute (HASEN); Coordinator CIPALERT(Critical Infrastructure Protection Alert) Platform

Ayhan received undergraduate education in Galatasaray University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of International Relations between 2006 and 2012 in French. During her education, she went to IEP Bordeaux, France as an Erasmus exchange Student in the fall term of the 2009-2010 academic years. She completed her education with a thesis on “La Participation des Pays Emergents dans la Gouvernance Economique Mondiale après la Crise de 2008” (Participation of Emerging Economies to Global Economic Governance after the 2008 Crisis). She finalized her graduate education in Bilgi University Department of International Political Economy with the thesis on “Political Economy of Turkish Azerbaijani Energy Relations”.

Ayhan has worked at HASEN (Hazar Strategy Institute)’s Center on Foreign Policy and Security as a researcher from September 2013 to July 2016. Also, she was coordinating CIPALERT Platform launched in 2015 by HASEN during June 2015-July 2016. She is one of the co-authors of the handbook of “Critical Energy Infrastructure Security” released by Hazar Strategy Institute in 2015 and she was technical editor of the edited volume on “Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection and Cyber Security Policies She has attended numerous international organizations as a lecturer or speaker. She was also co-director and lecturer in the “CIP against Terrorist Attacks” training course organized by COE-DAT (NATO Center of Excellence Defense Against Terrorism) and HASEN in November 2015. Currently, she is active in IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)’s cyber/computer security working groups. In addition, she is a member of Bosphorus Energy Club’s Young Energy Leaders Program and previous lecturer in the Global Cyber Security (CS) Alumni Community of Interest (COI) by George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany. Ayhan Gücüyener is fluent in French and English.

Her areas of expertise include Critical Infrastructure and Resilience, Crisis Management and Mitigation in Critical Infrastructure Protection, Pipeline Protection, Physical and Cyber Security of Critical Infrastructures, Information Sharing for Cyber Security, Political Economy of Cyber Security, Cyber Security in International Relations, Political Economy of Energy, Geopolitics of Energy, Energy Security, Politics of Energy in Caucasus and Caspian Region.

John Donlon QPM Chairman of the IACIPP said: I am delighted that Ayhan has taken up a position as Regional Director with us. We are building an international team of professionals who we believe will be of great assistance to the world of infrastructure protection in the future and Ayhan makes a great addition to that team. Ayhan will lead a new Working Group on focussing on Critical Energy Infrastructure.

We will continue to welcome new members who share with us the desire to make the world a safer place.