Integrating Cybersecurity Risk Assessments Into the Process Safety Management Work Process

Cybersecurity is rapidly becoming something the process safety can no longer ignore. It is part of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS). In addition, the President’s Executive Order 13636– “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity,” has drawn attention to the need for addressing cybersecurity in our plants as it has been demonstrated that in our new world, they are now a source of potential process safety incident.

IEC 61508[2], “Functional Safety of Electrical/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-related Systems (E/E/PE, or E/E/PES)” now has a requirement to address cybersecurity in safety instrumented systems and ANSI/ISA 84.00.01, “Functional Safety: Safety Instrumented Systems for the Process Industry Sector” is looking to include this requirement in the next revision. Currently the industry is playing catch up as there tends to be a gap in understanding between information technologists, traditionally responsible for cybersecurity, and the process automation and process safety engineers responsible for keeping our plants safe with help from automated controls and safety instrumented systems. As a result, guidance is being developed, but much of it continues to be a work in progress.

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