Goran Novkovic, PEng, PMP’s Post

What is the true value of industrial cybersecurity within your organization? Are you fully harnessing its potential? There is no technological innovation in operational environments and critical infrastructure without industrial cybersecurity innovation. Similarly, digital transformation cannot succeed without a parallel cybersecurity transformation. However, many industry leaders still see industrial cybersecurity as merely an administrative task, a box to check for regulatory compliance, focusing more on standards and frameworks, checking off cybersecurity controls, and reporting them as requirements met, while missing or neglecting the significant value industrial cybersecurity can deliver. Industrial cybersecurity is far more than compliance; it’s a powerful driver of business improvement, resilience, and innovation. If your organization is still stuck in assessments and control measures, ask yourself: Why does industrial cybersecurity exist in your organization if you’re not leveraging it as a strategic asset for growth? Why invest in industrial cybersecurity if it’s only being used to maintain appearances, rather than unlocking its full potential? Progressive industry leaders and decision makers, it’s not too late to change course. By embracing industrial cybersecurity as a core element of your operations, not just for protection but as a catalyst for innovation, you can unlock new growth and resilience for your business. With the rise of emerging technologies and evolving industry demands, now is the time to shift your perspective, recognizing industrial cybersecurity as a strategic enabler that drives transformation, strengthens operations, and prepares your organization for the future. Industrial cybersecurity can be the engine that drives you toward becoming a future-ready organization that you aspire to be! #industrialcybersecurity #criticalinfrastructure #criticalinfrasructureprotection #energy #utilities #transportation #AI #ML #emergingtechnologies #digitaltransformation #digitaltrust #industrialcybersecurityintelligence #IoT #OTSecurity #manufacturing #innovation

Are you facing challenges with your AI initiatives in operational environments? Do you find it difficult to unlock the full potential of AI within your operations? Are you struggling to access the operational data and insights needed to drive success? Or do you feel that the quality of your operational data is lacking, preventing your AI use cases from delivering the expected results? If any of these resonate, you’re not alone - but there is a path forward. Leadership commitment, progressive thinking, and innovative strategies are essential to achieving and maintaining operational visibility, which forms the foundation for building intelligent and resilient ecosystems across critical infrastructure sectors. Since no two organizations are alike, operational visibility solutions must be tailored to the unique needs of each organization and its operational environment. These solutions should prioritize the extraction of operational data from your environments and control systems - because the better your visibility, the better positioned you are to harness the power of AI and other emerging technologies for your organization. With operational data at their fingertips, organizations are better equipped to design, implement, and manage their operational and cybersecurity capabilities in a coordinated and efficient manner. Embracing the value of operational data unlocks possibilities for enhancing, optimizing, and innovating processes. Beyond driving digital transformation, operational data builds digital trust, making it an important asset for industries and critical infrastructure. Operational data serves as a competitive advantage, and its effective use is crucial for achieving industrial cybersecurity intelligence for your business. Based on my experience across industry sectors, I strongly encourage leaders and decision-makers to embrace these integrated solutions, harnessing their potential to enhance operational efficiency, innovation, and future-proof your organizations. These solutions are not only comprehensive but also modular and scalable, offering an economical approach that grows with your organizations. This approach ensures that your businesses remain agile, cost-effective, and ready for the challenges ahead. Start building operational visibility in your environments and leverage operational data to fuel your initiatives and unlock new possibilities for growth and protection. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about starting your AI journey for industrial operations and critical infrastructure. #criticalinfrastructure #criticalinfrastructureprotection #smartcities #industrialcybersecurity #otsecurity #iotsecurity #energy #transportation #utilities #oilandgas #manufacturing #digitaltransformation #cybersecurityintelligence #AI #emergingtechnologies #innovation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days—from media to conferences—but where does it fit into our industrial cybersecurity practices? How can we leverage it to enhance our solutions beyond the buzzwords? It’s time to develop intelligent and resilient ecosystems with innovative solutions that integrate AI with operational data, driving digital transformation and strengthening our critical infrastructure resilience. We all juggle priorities to keep our operations running smoothly but finding time and resources for innovation is crucial. Being busy or stuck in meetings is no excuse for neglecting advancement in industrial cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection. Even when meetings are draining, we must stay focused on investing in improvements and innovation! As cybersecurity and operational leaders, you’ll encounter presentations about AI and emerging technologies at conferences, where others are exploring and implementing new solutions with varying degrees of success. They’re pushing boundaries—what’s stopping us from doing the same? Commitment to innovation in industrial cybersecurity is essential, not just to keep pace with industry trends but to create meaningful and impactful changes in our practices. I encourage industry leaders to develop strategies that embrace AI’s potential and make a real difference in operations. Harness the power of AI to transform industrial cybersecurity by integrating it with operational data, driving digital innovation, and enhancing resilience. Don’t let buzzwords be all you achieve! Embrace this opportunity to drive progress, make a meaningful impact, and leave a lasting legacy in industrial cybersecurity. Let’s discuss how to effectively utilize AI and other emerging technology solutions within your organization and critical infrastructure protection. #industrialcybersecurity #criticalinfrastructureprotection #criticalinfrastructure #energy #utilities #manufacturing #transportation #digitaltransformation #digitaltrust #ML #AI #intelligentplatform #innovation #industrialcybersecurity #otsecurity #iotsecurity

Looking forward to joining the discussion on protecting Canada's critical national infrastructure alongside my colleagues Aniket Bhardwaj and Gennady Duchovich, CISSP, CSM, as well as industry leaders, this week. We'll be sharing ideas and exploring innovative strategies to safeguard our nation's most essential systems. Please come join the conversation.

What is the state of industrial cybersecurity culture within your organization? How critical is this culture for your teams and stakeholders, both internal and external? A strong industrial cybersecurity culture is the foundation for fostering innovation, collaboration, and the resilience necessary to protect operational environments and critical infrastructure across industries and geographies. Cybersecurity and operational teams cannot afford to work in silos, disconnected from one another. A unified approach, driven by transparency, collaboration, and a shared commitment to the mission of protecting critical assets, is essential for success. Industrial cybersecurity practices today demand a fusion of intelligence, creativity, and cooperation across IT/OT, engineering, and operational teams to meet the increasingly sophisticated threats we face. Promoting a healthy cybersecurity culture requires a strong commitment to ethical, professional, and moral standards. It’s not just about closing technical competency gaps; it's about creating an environment that encourages innovation while maintaining the highest standards of integrity. Power imbalances, and integrity failures are incompatible with the mission of safeguarding operational environments and critical infrastructure. When these issues are present, they block collaboration, and slow progress, making it impossible to build a cybersecurity team that can adapt and excel in the face of evolving threats. How often have you encountered these challenges in your organizations, and how have you addressed them as cybersecurity professionals? For industrial cybersecurity to succeed, leadership must champion this culture from the top down, ensuring that teams are empowered, supported, and aligned with the vision of safeguarding operations. Only through a deeply embedded culture of trust, respect, and collaboration can we effectively eliminate the silos between cybersecurity and operational teams, allowing us to deliver innovative solutions that are intelligent by design and resilient by nature. This is our collective responsibility - not just to our organizations but to society as a whole. We must remain committed to upholding these standards and to continuously pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in industrial cybersecurity innovation. The challenge is significant, but the mission is critical. It is the time to ensure that your organization's cybersecurity culture is not only sound but growing stronger. This is because the safety and security of our critical infrastructure depends on it. Let’s make necessary improvements together. #criticalinfrastructure #criticalinfrastructureprotection #industrialcybersecurity #otsecurity #iotsecurity #energy #manufacturing #utilities #transportation #digitaltransformation #AI #industrialintelligence #innovation

Who is responsible for industrial cybersecurity within your organization? Do you trust your cybersecurity teams and their ability to safeguard your operational environments and critical infrastructure? Are they equipped with the right knowledge and experience to provide the protection your organization truly needs? The answers to these questions should concern every senior leader. Cybersecurity cannot exist in isolation; it requires a well-defined strategy, clear leadership support, and, most importantly, effective communication across engineering, operations, and other key stakeholders. Without this alignment, even the best cybersecurity intentions fall short! Too often, cybersecurity teams are siloed - confined to office spaces, glued to screens, and stuck in unproductive meetings. They may discuss threats, vulnerabilities, and compliance, but if they lack a deep understanding of the operational environments they're supposed to protect, their efforts are destined to fail. An approach disconnected from the realities of the operation is not just ineffective - it’s dangerous! And neglecting to bridge this gap exposes your organization to significant risk. Leaders and teams must foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptability. Resistance to expert advice, failure to collaborate, and an unwillingness to listen are leadership failures that expose vulnerabilities. These are risks you cannot afford to ignore. Cybersecurity is not the responsibility of a single team - it is a shared mission. It’s concerning for me to see instances of incompetence in protecting these operational environments. This is a call to action for both leadership and cybersecurity professionals: Challenge the status quo in your organizations! When you see gaps, speak up! When you notice negligence, act! Our ethical and professional responsibility demands nothing less. This isn't just about following protocol - it’s about protecting critical infrastructure our societies globally rely on. Keep pushing for improvements, raising standards, and demanding excellence and innovation. As leaders and cybersecurity professionals, you are entrusted with one of the most critical tasks: securing our critical infrastructure and safeguarding what matters most. Let’s work together. #industrialcybersecurity #utilities #manufacturing #transportation #energy #smartcities #criticalinfrastructure #criticalinfrastructureprotection #otsecurity #iotsecurity #AI #emergingtechnologies #digitaltransformation #innovation

Why do cybersecurity service providers often reuse industrial cybersecurity solutions and documentation from previous projects for different asset owners? If every operation, environment, and facility is unique, how can a one-size-fits-all approach be effective? Phrases like "it’s good enough" or "it’s a good starting point" are misleading. What is deemed "good enough" may often be "wrong enough" and ultimately ineffective. While using insights from past projects as references is acceptable, completely recycling documentation—whether for a chocolate factory or an electric utility—is not a sound business practice. It is far more valuable to develop a single, original document tailored to the asset owner’s specific needs than to deliver recycled documents that add little value, even if provided for free. That's simply not acceptable. Effortless, generic cybersecurity solutions lack creativity and fall short of meeting the demands of unique industrial environments and asset owners. There is no universal template for industrial cybersecurity; each solution must be carefully customized to address the specific challenges of the operation. Every industrial cybersecurity solution requires dedicated effort and commitment—there are no shortcuts in industrial cybersecurity. There is no free lunch for asset owners in terms of industrial cybersecurity solutions, but there is no effortless solution design for cybersecurity service providers. I encourage our community to recognize the critical responsibility of industrial cybersecurity professionals. Our duty to society is to uphold high standards of integrity, fairness, and competence. We must prioritize public welfare by committing to creating effective, customized solutions that safeguard operational environments and critical infrastructure across all sectors and economies. #industrialcybersecurity #otsecurity #iotsecurity #icscybersecurity #energy #transportation #manufacturing #criticalinfrastructure #criticalinfrastructureprotection #digitaltransformation #industrialinteligence #innovation

I know it is challenging to manage improvements and innovation within industrial cybersecurity practices given the lack of management support, limited resources and expertise, governance silos with unclear roles and responsibilities, and the primary focus on keeping operations running smoothly and downtime-free. This is where a robust industrial cybersecurity culture must play a pivotal role in sustaining motivation to think creatively, produce insights, and communicate effectively about innovation. Organizations need to dedicate resources to industrial cybersecurity innovation, shift their culture, and lay the groundwork for innovative practices. Both culture and motivation create the space for processes that will guide improvements and innovation within your organization. Even if you are diligently documenting your operational environments to gain visibility and understanding, you may face obstacles from senior management, especially those from IT, or encounter resistance from engineers and operators who doubt your knowledge and capabilities. It can be difficult and hard, but your role as industrial cybersecurity professionals is to break down existing silos and overcome these obstacles! You are on a mission to protect operations and critical infrastructure within operational environments, and you must ensure that senior management and all key stakeholders understand and support this mission. Are you spending enough time communicating your industrial cybersecurity strategies and plans? Are you effectively promoting and marketing your industrial cybersecurity practices and solutions? I know that many of us tend to focus on the technical aspects, often working in isolation to solve complex technical problems, and may even be labeled as "too technical." However, clear communication and effective marketing are essential to overcome resistance and gain the support needed to drive improvements and innovation in industrial cybersecurity! Let’s focus on building an organizational culture that embraces leverages innovation to enhance our industrial cybersecurity practices. I know you can turn your mission into reality within your organization. Let’s work together to create a plan that makes this possible!? #industrialcybersecurity #criticalinfrastructure #criticalinfrastructureprotection #otsecurity #iotsecurity #digitaltransformation #AI #ML #energy #manufacturing #transportation #utilities #smartcities #innovation

Intelligence of operational environments within smart ecosystems begins with the intelligence of Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS). The intelligence of IACS cannot be assumed or taken for granted, instead it must be intentionally designed and implemented to align with the developments of smart ecosystems. This requires a culture shift and departure from existing industrial cybersecurity practices, where industrial cybersecurity teams across organizations and critical infrastructure can play a pivotal role. Our industrial cybersecurity practices, built on multidisciplinary skills and experience in designing and protecting IACS, are ideally positioned to enable, manage and deliver intelligence from IACS systems. We ensure that security, safety, reliability, and productivity are maintained, which forms the foundation of intelligent infrastructure within smart ecosystems. The role of industrial cybersecurity teams within organizations and critical infrastructure is continually evolving, expanding its responsibilities to provide intelligent and resilient IACS as a cornerstone for building smart ecosystems. Industrial cybersecurity practices are crucial enablers of digital transformation and innovation within these environments! It is vital for industry leaders and critical infrastructure asset owners to recognize that no team or function within an organization is better suited to manage the intelligence and resilience of IACS than those with expertise in industrial cybersecurity. Integrating and coordinating the concepts of 'security-by-design' and 'intelligence-by-design' is essential to support and drive the development of smart ecosystems. Are you familiar with the 'intelligence-by-design' strategy for designing IACS, ensuring that both operational and cybersecurity data can be effectively extracted and utilized for advanced capabilities and emerging technologies? Do you know where to start? I’m here to help guide you through the process. #industrialcybersecurity #otsecurity #iotsecurity #digitaltrust #digitaltransformation #industrialintelligence #AI #metaverse #smartcities #utilities #manufacturing #energy #transportation #intelligentplatforms #cybersecurityinnovation #innovation