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Robert M. Lee addressed world leaders at Davos on operational technology complexity, cyber security regulations, and business resilience.
The CEO and founder of industrial cyber security firm Dragos, Robert M. Lee, recently addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos with a presentation titled “Cutting Through Cyber Complexity”.
Lee covered the growing threats against critical infrastructure entities and the challenges organisations are facing when they try to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape and regulatory environment.
“Industrial organisations face significant challenges due to the increasing complexity of operational technology and rising threats from adversaries. Many have invested in updating their infrastructure, but this digitisation and automation also introduces risks,” Lee said.
“Unfortunately, many industrial organisations are not monitoring their OT environments. Without this monitoring of transient data, it can be impossible to determine whether incidents like a refinery explosion are due to maintenance problems, cyber attacks, or contractor mistakes.”
According to Lee, this is part of a wide issue, whereby companies do not have a complete picture of their operations and are thus more vulnerable to cyber attacks.
“This is especially concerning with the automation and complexity of systems continuing to grow, while cyber teams struggle to maintain basic security measures,” Lee said.
Lee also said that the private and public sectors need to work better together, as do nations.
“An impressive example is how the Malaysian delegation attended a Singapore CSA conference to learn from existing regulations in Singapore and the US. They openly sought to understand what worked and what didn’t without ego, aiming to get it right,” Lee said.
“This proactive and collaborative approach should be encouraged in other countries.”
Lee believes that cyber security resilience can only be achieved when organisations understand the “specific requirements and objectives of the system or environment, rather than starting from a cyber security perspective alone”.
“Too often, cyber security professionals focus on their methods without first considering the business’s core goals and how to mitigate the vulnerabilities that matter in that context. Many C-suite discussions on cyber security lack this fundamental conversation, leading to disproportionate spending on IT while neglecting operational technology,” Lee said.
“Addressing these requirements is crucial for an effective cyber security strategy for the business.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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