Sean Plankey: Protecting Critical Systems Within the IT/OT Convergence

The PrOTect OT Cybersecurity Podcast

About Sean Plankey: Sean Plankey currently serves as the Chief Architect for BedRock Systems, leading efforts to utilize BedRock’s formal methods proven software isolation secure platform to solve the most pressing cybersecurity problems across industry and government. Prior to BedRock Systems Sean served as the Public Sector CTO at DataRobot, a Silicon Valley Artificial Intelligence Platform. In government, Sean served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response at the Department of Energy. In this role he led the design and implementation of DOE’s cybersecurity supply chain program CyTRICS.

Mr. Plankey also served on the National Security Council as the Director for Maritime and Pacific Cybersecurity Policy, where he co-authored the National Maritime Cybersecurity Plan and multiple Presidential Directives on offensive cyberspace operations. He has also served as the Global Cyber Intelligence Advisor for BP plc, and as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for U.S. Navy Intelligence. He is a 2003 graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy and a 2008 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

In this episode, Aaron and Sean Plankey discuss:

• How do we protect critical infrastructure?
• The potential risk of public EV charging stations
• What kind of technology might people invest in?
• Understanding our supply chains and economic dependencies

Key Takeaways:

• The majority of the critical infrastructure in the U.S. is owned by the private selector. Therefore, cyber security in critical infrastructures is semi-regulated. Meaning, any changes made will need the collaboration of both government and the private sector.
• The installation of public EV charging stations along roads requires careful consideration of cybersecurity concerns. The connection between the charging stations, electric vehicles, computers, networks, and physical grid creates potential risks, such as fire hazard, reliability issues with the grid and other issues.
• When facing a limited budget, the decision between investing in efficiency optimization versus cybersecurity often results in a focus on efficiency. Unfortunately, cybersecurity is often perceived as a cost and its benefits may not be as tangible or easily understood.
• Currently, the U.S. is granting adversary space in our digital terrain. It poses a lot of risk for us to be the customer of an adversary. We have to know our customers and look more into our economic dependencies.

"Now you have access and you have a myriad of connectivity. And you're doing that analysis in the fog. Asset management is very difficult and that's where we need to bring that security. We'll continue to see that increasing IT/OT convergence in the fog. And that's where we protect. " — Sean Plankey

Connect with Sean Plankey:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-plankey/

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

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