Send us a text Uptime. It’s the lifeblood of manufacturing and the precise target of industrial sector hackers. By knocking systems offline, stealing credentials, holding data for ransom, or crippling supply chains, the bad guys know their ultimate goals of disruption or extortion will be realized. And as we’ve discussed numerous times here on Security Breach, keeping these bad actors out has become more and more difficult as new technology, connectivity and endpoints are added to the O...

Send us a text While there are plenty to pick from, one of the biggest challenges for cybersecurity professionals in the industrial realm can be getting financial support. In manufacturing there are always a number of viable spending options, and working to make cybersecurity a priority can be tough, especially when enterprises are faced with initiatives seen as more fundamental to the core mission of getting finished product out the door. However, a couple of recent reports could help connec...

Send us a text When talking to the experts and leading authorities that have participated in the 140+ episodes of Security Breach, there’s always a slight pause when directing their attention specifically to the industrial sector. That’s because, well, we’re special. There’s the unique juxtaposition of old and bleeding edge technology. There’s the influx of greater connectivity combatting the struggles to identify and secure the growing number of endpoints. And there are the...

I know that we’re constantly talking about artificial intelligence - the best ways to use it, the ways hackers are using it, and the overall good, bad and ugly of implementing AI into your security infrastructure. But what if we took a little different route. In this episode we're going to explore how AI can help make your people better at managing cybersecurity. We know there’s a huge talent pool shortage, and the challenges of keeping employees vigilant against repeated attacks continues to...

Discussing the ever-expanding threat landscape is something we do a lot on Security Breach, but this episode is dedicated exclusively to topics like zero-day vulnerabilities, nation-state threats, phishing schemes, ransomware, and of course, the role artificial intelligence continues to play in making the good guys smarter and the bad guys tougher to pin down. But we’re not doing to dwell on the doom and gloom, we’ll also touch on the growing number of solutions and strategies that can help e...

As loyal listeners of this podcast know, I’m a big believer in paying close attention to the little things, the blocking and tackling, the basics, the fundamentals. All those elementary elements that comprise the building blocks of stronger cybersecurity plans and successful defensive strategies. Spoiler alert – that comes through again … and again in this episode, but what makes it worth your time is how my guest, Jesper Sønderby Andersen, the Global Head of Customer Success at Secomea...

As all of you know, there are no silver bullets when it comes to cybersecurity success in the industrial sector. Every enterprise has its own unique characteristics, each plant floor its different connectivity elements, and each business is comprised of diverse human dynamics that fuel its culture. However, regardless of the environment, there continues to be a handful of best practices that can be universally applied. As I journey across the cybersecurity realm, one of these reoccurrin...

We’ve heard it before – hacker tactics are not changing, but the hackers are getting a lot smarter in how they deploy their time-tested attacks. Additionally, honing in on the human element of cybersecurity is nothing new. We’ve spoken with numerous guests about getting buy-in, improving training, and how creating a cyber-receptive culture is key in getting any cybersecurity plan to stick. But Dave Taku, Head of Product Management and User Experience at RSA, and our guest for this episode, of...

Who are you? This episode dives into one of the most challenging cybersecurity topics currently on the docket – identity management. My conversation with Brandon Traffanstedt, Sr. Director and Global Technology Officer at CyberArk, took us in two equally important directions. The first deals with individuals and how to properly manage those accessing your systems and networks. The second, equally as challenging, but potentially more complex, focused on machine or asset identities and un...

I’m always tempted to start out each episode by talking about a problem, and then setting up our guest as the solution to that problem. It’s formulaic and a bit redundant, but it’s also effective. So I’ll apologize in advance because I’m about to do that very thing again. The difference is that Howard Grimes, the CEO of the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII) is looking to help provide a lot of solutions for manufacturers. As we discuss workforce challenges, secur...

Insider threats are creating new attack vectors, but old-school solutions could rise to the challenge. Regardless of the situation or dynamic, everyone likes to think that they’re special. However, with experience we learn that appreciating both the shared similarities, as well as some of those unique traits, are how we can best solve problems. A great example is a recent conversation I had with Umaimah Khan, founder and CEO of Opal Security – she goes by UK for short. Her firm focuses ...

In many instances the biggest challenge facing OT cybersecurity practitioners is knowing where to focus resources, especially their time. In other words, what are the priorities for the enterprise, facility and people? I recently sat down with Securin's Lead Threat Intelligence Analyst - Aviral Verma. And while I anticipated a conversation focused on vulnerabilities and the threat landscape, discussing these topics led to deeper dives on a range of topics that also included breaking down IT/O...

One of the great things about covering industrial cybersecurity is the number of reports, studies and white papers being produced right now to help provide intelligence on threats, research on new tools, and data on leading trends. The tough part is sorting through all this data and, at some point, prioritizing it in order to get the most and best information. One source that I look forward to each year is IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index. It’s full of all that stuff I just mentioned, ...

Endpoint security tools worked, but the hackers worked harder for their payday. While everyone likes to know how someone else might have screwed up and what the fallout looks like, the more import elements of episodes like this one come from the in-depth conversations about new tactics and strategies that are being used by the bad guys, and simultaneously, the insight on new best practices for the good guys. So while I did enjoy diving into how the ransomware group Akira was able to use webca...

We talk a lot about the growing complexity of hacking groups and how their tools and tactics continue to evolve. One such evolution is the ongoing specialization that runs rampant throughout the black hat community – especially when it comes to ransomware. The rise of initial access brokers, affiliate programs, spoofing domain creators, dark web communities, and more are fueling ransomware-as-a-service groups and posing new cybersecurity challenges. And while numerous reports deta...

Breaking down silos while securing the cloud and leveraging secure-by-design advancements. The challenges facing the industrial OT landscape that emanate from external sources are … varied, complex and constantly evolving. Smarter hacking groups, AI-driven phishing schemes and deceptive malware viruses head the list of concerns. And while these factors show no signs of fading, the reality is that there are just as many challenges facing industrial cybersecurity that are embedded within the ve...

One of the goals of the show is to help you better understand all the threats facing your OT assets, your data and your people. In order to do that, we work to identify those individuals with a feel and in-depth understanding of these threats and the evolving network of threat actors. And I can’t think of anyone better to break down the hacker landscape than an individual whose research has led to being followed by well-known data breachers on social media and considered persona-non-grata in ...

When we talk about the threat landscape for the industrial sector, the eye-catching, headline-grabbing hacking groups with nefarious names typically lead the list of concerns. And while understanding their well-publicized exploits are important, what is often overlooked are all the little things these groups were able to do before dropping malware, shutting down networks, extorting ransoms, and stealing data. This is where taking the time to address those insecure connection points, update lo...

While we’re still in the infancy of 2025, the New Year has proven to have no issues in welcoming in a number of pre-existing challenges – whether we’re talking about cybersecurity or … other social topics.So, in continuing this trend, we tapped into a unique collection of voices to discuss a topic that has, and will continue to be, vital to industrial cybersecurity efforts – Artificial Intelligence. First, we’ll hear from Mandiant’s Paul Shaver as he discusses the legacy dynamics of indu...

The continued evolution of the CyberAv3ngers hacking group and its IIoT-focused malware.We talk a lot about change on Security Breach. Some of it’s good and obviously some of it makes us want to tear our hair out. Well, this episode, surprisingly, should go easy on the scalp, even though it will focus on the IOCONTROL malware strand recently detected by Noam Moshe and Claroty’s Team82. The malware is described as a custom-built IoT/OT strand created by the Iran-based hacktivist group, th...