Eldin has been in OT for 25+ years, starting off building PLC/HMI systems, then working on DCS, SCADA, Historians, OPC connectivity and Cyber Security monitoring. He has traversed almost every industry including Food and Beverage, Glass, Manufacturing, Mining, Logistics, Airport Baggage Handling, Oil & Gas, Water, Semiconductors, Building Management, Power Transmission and Power Generation. He has worked for diverse companies including Citect, Matrikon, Honeywell and Claroty, and consulted to companies across the world. He is now the OT Cyber Specialist for Energy Australia, and has a passion for practical and actionable OT Cyber solutions.
1. How have recent shifts in the cyber threat landscape been affecting critical infrastructure?
While the landscape has shown increasing threat within the OT space, the awareness has been there for a while now. The usual lag in implementation of standards and systems in the Industrial space is catching up, and vendors and users are understanding that we can’t simply isolate OT systems and call it a day.
2. What are your main security concerns and what are you prioritising at the moment?
The same as we have always had in OT – patching, visibility and improved practices.
3. What are the 3 main challenges that cyber leaders in APAC are facing at the moment?
Vendor support for better cyber practices (eg hardening of systems), Reduction of noise from OT monitoring, Reconciliation of site business-as-usual activities with improved cyber activities.
4. What is your advice for companies looking to baseline and start their OT security journey?
Start to get visibility of systems in your OT environment, there are many vendors that can at least partly automate this. But don’t spend 6 months evaluating the absolute best technology, they all have limitations, so pick the best you can as quickly as you can, and start getting that data in – initial visibility is very important. You can’t improve what you can’t measure!
5. What have been the biggest challenges around COVID-19 for your organisation? And, how did you address them?
From an OT perspective, Covid has not had as big an impact as site activities continue (albeit with Covid-safe measures in place). Remote support of sites without actually visiting is challenging but not insurmountable.
6. What impact are these challenges having on your cyber security strategy?
From an OT perspective, not too much, other than extended response times from vendors (who can’t always visit a site for support and maintenance assistance)
7. What do the next 5 years hold for your industry?
Improved technology is needed (both from OT vendors and security vendors) to increase the resilience of systems, better and more reliable data, and improved processes on how to react operationally to cyber threats.
Connect with Eldin and learn more about System Hardening to Optimize Process Control Network Security as part of a live panel discussion alongside Shitij Bathia (Sanofi), Sharul Rashid (Petronas), Yask Sharma (IOCL) & Abdul Patail (Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd) at the upcoming #CS4CA APAC Summit.
Find out more and secure your place at the CS4CA APAC online summit on 27th – 28th January, for FREE using the complimentary discount code: ENERGYAUS.
Book now at: apac.cs4ca.com/register/
*Offer is valid for end-users only. No vendors or consultants.
