Roya Gordon: Secure Connections - Why Human Interaction is Key to OT Security

The PrOTect OT Cybersecurity Podcast

About Roya Gordon: Roya Gordon is a trailblazing cybersecurity expert, inspiring young women and people of color to pursue their passions in technology. With an impressive background that includes serving as an intelligence specialist in the U.S. Navy and working at Idaho National Laboratory and Accenture, Roya now holds the position of OT/IoT Security Research Evangelist at Nozomi Networks. Roya is also the founder of Steps2STEM, a company that aims to help young women and people of color break into the cybersecurity industry. With a Masters in Global Affairs focused on cyberwarfare from Florida International University, Roya is committed to sharing her insights and experiences to help others succeed.

In this episode, Aaron and Roya Gordon discuss:

• The power of working together to protect our economy and infrastructure in cybersecurity
• Why knowing the differences between IT and OT environments matters for industrial safety
• Collaborative strategies for securing critical infrastructure in complex industrial environments
• Hopes and concerns around the mainstream adoption of OT networks and the impact of AI on the industry's workforce

Key Takeaways:

• People with different roles in cybersecurity, such as vendors, consultants, and asset owners, cooperate to safeguard critical infrastructure by utilizing their diverse abilities and viewpoints, ensuring victory over cyber threats.
• It's not possible to combine IT products and OT environments due to various reasons, and this creates a risk for businesses, as demonstrated in the Colonial Pipeline incident.
• Collaboration between consultants and vendors is key to securing critical infrastructure, where consultants provide guidance and vendors offer integrated solutions to meet policy requirements.
• Roya believes that in the next five to 10 years, OT will become more mainstream, but worries about AI replacing human jobs in the industry, stressing the importance of adapting and continuously learning through emerging technologies to maintain relevance.

"We talk about ChatGPT and how threat actors can use it for bad, but a lot of people are using it for good too. I just think it gets a little bit dangerous where we want to remove the human element out of things and just trust AI because everything has bugs." — Roya Gordon

Connect with Roya Gordon:

Website: https://www.nozominetworks.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roya-gordon-16245437/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoyaGordon

The Importance of Physical Access Endpoint Detection: https://www.nozominetworks.com/blog/importance-of-physical-access-endpoint-detection/

2022 2H Security Report: https://www.nozominetworks.com/blog/nozomi-networks-researchers-take-a-deep-look-into-the-ics-threat-landscape/

Connect with Aaron:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronccrow

Learn more about Industrial Defender:

Website: https://www.industrialdefender.com/podcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/industrial-defender-inc/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/iDefend_ICS

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@industrialdefender7120

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.