Events , Governance & Risk Management , Operational Technology (OT)

Securing IT/OT Systems for Critical Infrastructure

Benny Czarny of OPSWAT on Challenges Faced by Critical Infrastructure Organizations
Benny Czarny, founder and CEO, OPSWAT

Critical infrastructure organizations are faced with three big challenges, said Benny Czarny, founder and CEO of OPSWAT. Many infrastructures have both OT and IT systems, making data and device transfer between the two systems difficult. Also, some OT devices are outdated while IT systems use modern cloud devices, making it challenging to manage the complexities of the network. And the shortage of training is another hurdle.

See Also: The Security Testing Imperative

To address these challenges, Czarny called for additional compliance mandates in 2023. Following similar mandates in Australia and Japan, he said the U.S. should mandate Deep Content Disarm and Reconstruction, or Deep CDR. He also noted the significance of training on critical infrastructure to pave the way for practitioners in the field.

"Put yourself in the seat of a CISO in charge of protecting the critical infrastructure - that can be a water plant, a nuclear facility or a government agency. You have a workforce of various folks and they need to be trained to understand what are the risks, what is an air-gapped network, some terminologies, technologies, compliance mandates that are very specific to this critical infrastructure," he said.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group at RSA Conference 2023, Czarny also discussed:

  • The biggest cyber challenges small critical infrastructure providers face;
  • How critical infrastructure providers protect vital assets from AI-based threats;
  • How a lack of training and technology makes securing OT environments tough.

Czarny has more than 25 years of experience in successfully identifying market needs and building innovative cloud-based security products and solutions. Prior to founding OPSWAT, he held technical leadership positions at NetManage, Netect and BindView.


About the Author

Michael Novinson

Michael Novinson

Managing Editor, Business, ISMG

Novinson is responsible for covering the vendor and technology landscape. Prior to joining ISMG, he spent four and a half years covering all the major cybersecurity vendors at CRN, with a focus on their programs and offerings for IT service providers. He was recognized for his breaking news coverage of the August 2019 coordinated ransomware attack against local governments in Texas as well as for his continued reporting around the SolarWinds hack in late 2020 and early 2021.




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