A Whole Systems Approach to Securing Industrial CNI Systems

The increased convergence between Operational Technology (OT) and generic ICT capability, and the ‘sudden connectivity’ to environments that control physical process automation drives much of the modernisation of industrial systems that underpin Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). While such developments bring obvious benefits to -among others- sustainability and economic prosperity, they also mean CNI is increasingly exposed to cyberattacks and adversarial events with potentially catastrophic consequences to society, national defence, and the functioning of the state. In this talk, I will discuss how a whole systems approach – including digital technology development, Machine Learning and AI, and organisational integration – is needed to secure and safeguard CNI. Also, how buy-in from a wide range of stakeholders is required, from CNI operators and equipment vendors to C&I personnel and government, is required in order to assure CNI is resilient in a landscape of growing complexity and cyberthreats, and adversaries that can vary from teenage hacktivists all the way to state actors.