Simply ICS Cyber

In this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, Don and Tom welcome Sam Blaney, retired Chief Warrant Officer (CW3) from the Georgia National Guard and current cybersecurity professor at the University of North Georgia. Sam shares insights from his career building and leading Cyber Protection Team 170, his transition into teaching, and his continued work helping state and local governments strengthen cyberse...

The growing need for visibility and response in industrial environments is driving more organizations to consider ICS/OT Security Operations Centers — but what does that actually look like for small and medium-sized operations? In this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, Don and Tom sit down with Dan Gunter, CEO and founder of Insane Cyber, to discuss how ICS/OT SOCs function, what data truly matters for...

The industrial threat landscape never stands still — and neither can defenders. In this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, Don and Tom sit down with Joe Slowik, a globally recognized expert in cyber threat intelligence (CTI), detection engineering, and incident response for ICS, OT, and critical infrastructure environments. With over 15 years of experience spanning offensive operations, threat research,...

Selecting and managing ICS/OT cybersecurity vendors and integrators isn’t just a procurement step - it’s a strategic decision that shapes resilience, compliance, and long-term security outcomes. The best approach depends on organization size, resources, and security objectives. In this episode, Don and Tom are joined by Saltanat Mashirova, OT Cybersecurity Lead at CPX and OTCEP member with the Cyb...

Industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) are the backbone of modern society—powering electricity, water, gas, communications, manufacturing, chemicals, and even medical technology. But what happens when these systems must be secured in the middle of a warzone? On this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, hosts Don C. Weber and Tom VanNorman sit down with special guest Patrick C. Mi...

In this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, co-hosts Don C. Weber and Tom VanNorman are joined by maritime and energy cybersecurity expert Marco (Marc) Ayala — vOT-CISO, Senior Principal Advisor for Energy, Oil, and Gas at the Cyber Infrastructure Protection Innovation Center (CIPIC), President of InfraGard Houston Members Alliance, and National Sector Chief of Energy for InfraGard. Marc has spent his ca...

In this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, Don C. Weber and Tom VanNorman sit down with Chris Sistrunk to dive into the challenges and realities of Substation Security.   Chris, now a Technical Leader at ⁨Mandiant⁩ & Google Cloud Security, brings years of experience from his time at Entergy, where he specialized in Transmission & Distribution SCADA systems and cybersecurity labs. He’s a recogniz...

Join Don Weber and Tom VanNorman for the Season 2 premiere of Simply ICS Cyber! In this episode, your hosts interview special guest and ICS professional, Dan Ricci. Dan is a Power Systems Engineer and Researcher with Idaho National Labs and sits down with the hosts to explore vulnerability management, feeds, and learn more about ICS Advisory Board Project.  Episode Links: - https://www.icsadvisory...

Don and Tom jump into the TSA Directives in this episode with their special guest Mike Holcomb, the Fellow of Cybersecurity and the ICS/OT Cybersecurity Global Lead for Fluor, one of the world’s largest engineering, procurement, and construction companies. He also founded the BSides ICS/OT and BSides Greenville cons. In this episode, our expert guest helps us answer the questions below: - What are...

In this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, Don and Tom interview their guest, Jim Gilsinn. Together they discuss the ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity framework and answer the questions: - What is ISA/IEC 62443 Series of Standards and how do they help? - How do you get access to the ISA/IEC 62443 documents? - How can you help improve the standards? Connect with Jim Gilsinn on socials: - Linked In: https://www...

How does Incident Response in ICS/OT/SCADA work? In this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, Don and Tom welcome Kai Thomsen, Director of Global Incident Response Services at Dragos. Join us as we answer the questions below and provide more insight into how IR works in OCS, OT, and SCADA: - Is DFIR the same on the OT side as the IT side? - What are some of the challenges the OT DFIR team faces? - In an o...

In this episode, Tom and Don host special guest Michael Hilken, Cyber Physical Engineer at Grimm. The trio review and discuss the Five ICS Cybersecurity Critical Controls. Links from this episode: - Michael Hilken: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hilken/ - SANS Whitepaper on the The Five ICS Cybersecurity Critical Controls: https://www.sans.org/white-papers/five-ics-cybersecurity-critical-cont...

In this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, Don and Tom interview Gus Serino, water sector expert and Owner at I&C Secure, Inc. Listen in as we will answer the following questions: - What is Critical Infrastructure? - What are other types of Industrial and Automation? - Is cybersecurity different between the two? Links from this episode: - Gus Serino LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gusserino/ -...

In episode 2 of Simply ICS Cyber, we answer the following questions for those interested in starting a career in ICS (industrial control systems), OT (operational technology): - What is Capex vs Opex? And, why does it matter when getting a job? - What is the compensation versus actual pay? - What does the OT side consider as important skills? - How are the rising FTE and consultant wages affecting...

Welcome to the first episode of Simply ICS Cyber! Tune in every other Wednesday for new episodes premiering at 9:30 AM ET. Learn more about what to expect in this episode below: - Who are Don and Tom? - What are industrial and automation controls and why are they important? - What are these terms? ICS, OT, 62443, countermeasures, PLC, DCS - Why is cybersecurity different in OT versus IT? Join us e...