Cyber Brews - The Operational Technologies Podcast

Series 3 - Episode 7
A step back in time to 11 December 2005. 06:01 in the morning. A series of explosions at the Buncefield oil storage depot near Hemel Hempstead shook the surrounding area. The blast could be heard up to 125 miles away and registered 2.4 on the Richter scale.
In this episode of Cyber Brews, we explore the three questions posed by the UK Competent Authority following the Buncefield incident and consider how they can help organisations rethink their approach to cybersecurity:
🔹 Do we understand what can go wrong?
🔹 Do we know what systems are in place to prevent this happening?
🔹 Do we have information to assure ourselves that they are working effectively?
These questions may sound straightforward, but they raise some important challenges for organisations responsible for critical infrastructure.
We discuss how they apply to OT cyber risk assessments, security controls, organisational accountability and the evidence needed to demonstrate that cybersecurity measures are actually working.
Because having firewalls, procedures and security policies in place is one thing. Understanding what could go wrong, knowing whether the right protections exist, and having evidence that they remain effective is another.
Whether you're an OT engineer, cybersecurity professional, site owner or process safety specialist, join us as we explore how lessons from Buncefield can help us ask better questions about industrial cybersecurity.
☕ Grab a brew and join the conversation. Are we asking the right questions about OT cyber risk?

What does a French military fortification from the 1930s have to teach us about OT cybersecurity? Quite a lot, actually.

In this episode of Cyber Brews, we take a trip back to the Second World War and explore the story of the Maginot Line a hugely engineered defensive system that largely worked as designed, but failed to stop the attack because the attacker didn't follow the route its designers expected.
We explore what this can teach us about modern OT and industrial cybersecurity, including why having a firewall doesn't mean you have a security strategy, why defence in depth is about more than simply adding more security products, and why organisations need to plan for what happens when a control fails.
We discuss:

Network segmentation, zones and conduits
Identity, authentication and least privilege
Physical and application security
Monitoring, detection and incident response
Recovery, resilience and maintaining safe operations
And perhaps most importantly challenging the assumptions behind our security strategy.

Because the lesson of the Maginot Line isn't that walls don't work. It's that a wall is only useful if you've thought about what happens when someone gets around it.
So grab a brew and join us for another Cyber Brews story.

Series 3 - Episode 5

In this episode of Cyber Brews, we explore how Remote Access fits into the IEC 62443 standard and discuss the different approaches organisations are using to securely connect to their OT environments.

We cover topics including:
▪️ The different types of OT remote access and why it's much more than simply using Remote Desktop (RDP)
▪️ The advantages and disadvantages of common remote access technologies
▪️ How secure remote access supports maintenance, vendors and operational teams
▪️ Where remote access fits within the principles of IEC 62443
▪️ Practical considerations for reducing cyber risk while maintaining operational availability

Whether you're an engineer, asset owner, system integrator or cybersecurity professional, understanding how to implement secure remote access is becoming increasingly important in today's connected industrial environments.

☕ Grab a brew and join us as we explore one of the most critical topics in OT cybersecurity.

Series 3 - Episode 4

In this episode of Cyber Brews, we dive into IEC 62443-2-1 Edition 2 and explore what the updated standard means for organisations building and managing cybersecurity programs within industrial and OT environments.

We discuss the difference between a Cybersecurity Management System (CSMS) and a broader Security Program (SP), why the terminology matters, and how the latest edition of the standard is evolving beyond traditional compliance thinking.

The episode also covers:
▪️ What the IEC 62443-2-1 security program is designed to achieve
▪️ The biggest changes introduced in Edition 2
▪️ How the standard impacts different stakeholders across industry
▪️ What engineers, site owners, OT teams, and process safety professionals should be thinking about moving forward

As industrial cyber security continues to mature, organisations are increasingly being asked to demonstrate not just technical controls, but governance, ownership, and long-term resilience.

Series 3 - Episode 3!
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming part of the industrial cyber landscape but is it strengthening critical infrastructure, or introducing entirely new risks?
In this episode we explore the growing relationship between AI and OT security, discussing how organisations are beginning to rely on AI-driven technologies within critical infrastructure environments.

We dive into topics including:▪️ AI as a new dependency in critical infrastructure▪️ AI-assisted defence for OT environments▪️ How attackers are beginning to use AI against operational technology▪️ The emerging cyber “arms race” between defenders and adversaries▪️ New vulnerabilities and attack vectors introduced by AI systems▪️ Risks such as malicious data poisoning and the growing concern around AI model collapse caused by AI-generated training data

As AI adoption accelerates, understanding both the opportunities and the unintended consequences becomes increasingly important for organisations operating industrial systems.
So grab a brew and join us as we explore whether AI is becoming the future of industrial cybersecurity or the next major challenge.