Federal government publishes guidelines for the food industry

The Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES) addresses those responsible in the food industry to ensure integral security of supply. As part of the national strategy to protect Switzerland against cyber risks (NCS) adopted by the Federal Council in 2012, the Confederation carried out vulnerability analyses in various vital sectors.

The present "Minimum Standard for the Security of Information and Communication Technology in the Food Supply" starts where a modern society can least afford failures:

in the ICT systems of critical infrastructures. This applies to food supply as well as, for example, energy supply or healthcare. Accordingly, this ICT minimum standard is intended to support companies in the food industry in avoiding ICT disruptions or rectifying them quickly.

ICT minimum standard

One result of these investigations was the general ICT minimum standard presented last year. This is now being supplemented by the industry standard for food supply. The document contains recognized guidelines and recommendations for improving IT security. The paper was prepared by BWL together with experts from the food industry.

The recommendations, according to the communication, will be implemented voluntarily by the companies in the sector in the sense of "self-regulation". The "ICT minimum standard for food supply" is basically aimed at all companies involved in the production, distribution, import and processing of food.

It is intended to help food suppliers identify their critical systems, assess risks and take protective measures. A failure of the systems endangers the business activities of companies and thus also the supply of Switzerland with critical goods and services, writes the BWL on the background.

More on the "Minimum standard for the safety of information and communication technology in the food supply" can be found at here