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ETSI and TTA, with the support of the European Commission, organised a webinar focusing on the standardisation initiatives around cybersecurity for consumer IoT and de-identifications solutions. Europe and South-Korea have a longstanding history of cooperation in the digital policy and standardization domain, which now is extended to cover the broad scope of IoT systems and applications. With the rapid expansion of the Internet of Things in the consumer space, security has become a key priority requiring close coordination and cooperation. Adrian Scrase, the Chief Technical Officer of ETSI and KC Koo, the Vice President of the South Korean Telecom Technology Association of South Korea, underlined the importance of close cooperation between Europe and South Korea on these key subjects.

The challenges of IoT cybersecurity are global in nature, as the threats are clearly borderless and not confined or restricted to any one region. As such, global threats are best dealt with a coordinated, common response based on global standards. The transition to digital societies will be predicated on security standards - which allows for the generation of trust by consumers and an accelerated market rollout of digital products and services.

The agenda covered the following topics: 
  • Cybersecurity for consumer IoT
    • Introduction of the session by the Chairman of the ETSI TC Cyber group
    • [EU] Update on the European approach and presentation of the EN 303 645 Cybersecurity Standard by Eurosmart
    • [KOREA] Update on the Korean approach by Soon Chun Hyang University
    • Q & A - Panel Discussion including participants from the Korea Internet & Security Agency, ETSI, Eurosmart and Soon Chun Hyang University
  • De-identification technology and system
    • Introduction of the session by Soon Chun Hyang University
    • [EU] De-identification technology and system in Europe and Mechanisms for privacy assurance and verification by ETSI TC CYBER
    • [KOREA] De-identification technology and system in Korea by Seoul National University, School of Law
    • Q & A - Panel Discussion including participants from Sejong University, Soon Chun Hyang University, Seoul National University
Xavier Piednoir emphasized that the key work of ETSI and TTA was to continue to focus on identifying standards being used by certification programs where the two organisations are actively participating and work towards harmonisation of those standards. It was reiterated that the role of groups like ETSI and TTA was not just to develop standards in the area of IoT cyber security but also to coordinate and connect all of the relevant experts in this space.

The potential challenge of having different standards in South Korea and Europe was also highlighted. One of the roads forward is to continue to assess and compare the two standards, identify commonalities and differences and then see in which ways they could be merged into one comprehensive standard - or if a mutual recognition agreement could be foreseen by both parties. Mr KC Koo from TTA highlighted that the InDiCo programme is a key enabler of the future cooperation between Europe and South Korea in the IoT and Cybersecurity domain.