Mr Costas Efthymiou
Technical Affairs Officer, Office of the Commissioner of Electronic Communications & Postal Regulation
Costas Efthymiou is an Officer of Technical Affairs at the Office of the Commissioner of Electronic Communications and Postal Regulation( OCECPR). He is a communications systems, networks and information security specialist with over 13 years of experience in communications network and security research, development and regulation, including working on multiple European Research Programmes and development of national cybersecurity strategy. He has extensive knowledge of information security, privacy techniques, MAC, networking and transport layer protocols as applied to wired networks, cellular networks, wireless local area networks, sensor networks and smart metering / grids. In his current position, his responsibilities include coordinating the development and implementation of a number of National Cybersecurity Strategy and Critical Information Infrastructure Protection actions, with representation of Cyprus in key European fora for national information security development( ENISA, participation in European Forum for Member States and Cyber Crisis Exercise Planning). He is also actively developing national risk assessment and contingency planning for cyber crises. He holds the CISSP, CEH and PMP professional certifications, and is a member of a number of professional bodies( IET, IEEE,( ISC) 2, PMI, ISACA, CCS, ETEK).
“ Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity – The Government Perspective”
The rapidly rising importance of information and cyber security in recent years is unmistakable and this trend is only set to continue, even to accelerate. We can no longer really talk of a clear distinction between the cyber and physical worlds; cyber-physical systems, such as those found in most Critical Infrastructures today, are so intertwined with our daily lives, that a serious cyber incident has the potential to affect large parts of the population at multiple levels. The proliferation of cyber attacks and the continuing arms race between the ' good guys ' and the ' bad guys ' necessitates bold moves by governments across the world to provide the tools and capacity to effectively prevent and combat such cyber attacks. This presentation will discuss the Cyprus Government approach to the protection of critical information infrastructures, through a national cybersecurity strategy. It will make the case for the importance of a holisic approach that includes a national level risk assessment and a number of other related actions, in order to maximise the response to such threats on a national level and to ensure the smooth operation and availability of vital societal functions.