The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) officially released the long-awaited Next-Generation 9-1-1 Security (NG-SEC) standards. These standards provide the public safety industry’s first comprehensive and robust framework for securing entities participating in Next-Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1).
The need for cyber security standards has never been greater as the public safety industry moves towards an interconnected, IP-enabled, future of NG9-1-1. In the legacy 9-1-1 environment, PSAPs were, for the most part, not connected together. These stand alone networks provided some degree of security for would-be hackers and the like. However, with the advent of NG9-1-1, the need to interconnect networks of varying security postures becomes a requirement.
However, to date, no single or comprehensive set of cyber security standards existed in the public safety space. NENA, having recognized the value of cyber security as the industry transitions to NG9-1-1, created a working group to create cyber security standards for the public safety industry. The NG-SEC standard is the result of a multi-year effort by the Security for Next-Generation 9-1-1 Working Group. This team included a wide variety of industry participants including technical, operational, PSAP, vendors, telecommunication companies and more.
L.R. Kimball, the leader in cyber security for the public safety industry, applauds NENA’s efforts and recommends that folks currently planning (or about to start) for NG9-1-1 take a look at this new standard and determine how it can be added to your plans. It is critical that cyber security be built into the DNA of your NG9-1-1 efforts and not bolted on at the end.
Jeremy L. Smith, CISSP
Sr. Cyber Security Consultant
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