Minimizing OT Attack Surface: A CISO’s Perspective on Limiting Exposure

Exposure is the single most reliable predictor of OT compromise.

The more reachable an asset is, the more likely it will be targeted. CISOs must therefore champion exposure management, not perimeter optimism.

High-Risk Exposure Patterns

• Internet-accessible OT devices

• Inbound remote access

• Permanently enabled vendor connections

• Admin interfaces outside privileged access controls

Board-Relevant Controls

• Outbound-only connectivity

• Brokered access via DMZs

• Just-in-time remote access

• Privileged Access Workstations (PAWs)

Executive Insight

Reducing exposure lowers:

• Probability of compromise

• Incident response costs

• Regulatory scrutiny

This is risk reduction with measurable ROI.

Final Thought: Exposure Is the Enemy of Resilience

Most OT compromises are not sophisticated—they are inevitable outcomes of unnecessary exposure. Attackers do not need zero-days when systems are reachable, persistent, and poorly governed.

Reducing exposure is one of the few OT security actions that reliably lowers both likelihood and impact. For CISOs, this is a rare control that improves security posture while simultaneously reducing operational and regulatory burden.

Asset Management - Physical Devices - What do you have? Do you know?

Asset management and inventorying your physical systems, we all know we should do it, and I am sure most try. I am not going to talk about the should have, would have or could have. Instead, I am going to focus on the risks associated with the NIST CSF control ID-AM.1. The control simply states, “Physical devices and systems within the organization are inventoried.” At the simplest level, this control is saying that the organization inventories all physical systems that are apart of the information system. In my opinion, the control is foundational because how can you secure something if you don't know it exists. If you are not inventorying your systems, how do you know if they have adequate controls to protect the data and network. If you had a breach of data, would you know what type of data was involved, or would you even know if you had a breach? To further extend this, how can you perform a risk assessment on the system to understand and relay ...

Vulnerability Management… It’s easy - Planning

I am sure you have had either consultants, vendors, or heard at a conference that vulnerability management is foundational security control. While I agree that it is an essential control, I also understand that it is challenging to implement. Vulnerability management is not just to pick a tool, scan, and fix issues. Many components make it a complicated journey. This series will attempt to help break it down and give you ideas on how this complex service and be delivered effectively. Planning Objective When you start, I recommend creating a targeted objective and set of measures against your objective. Ensure that you keep in mind your organization’s culture, politics, and risk appetite as you are developing your objective. I have seen some target just “critical” systems for regulatory compliance, whereas others have targeted their entire enterprise. No matter your scope, keep in mind your team’s current resource...

Generative AI Governance: Using the NIST Framework to Build Trust, Reduce Risk, and Lead Secure AI Adoption

Generative AI has moved faster than nearly any technology security leaders have dealt with. Tools that can generate text, code, images, and data insights are now embedded into productivity platforms, security tooling, development workflows, and business operations—often before security teams are formally involved. For CISOs, this creates a familiar but amplified challenge: innovation is happening faster than governance, and unmanaged generative AI introduces material risk across confidentiality, integrity, availability, compliance, and trust. For aspiring information security professionals, AI governance represents a growing and valuable discipline where strategic thinking matters just as much as technical depth. The good news? We don’t need to invent governance from scratch. NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) provides a practical, flexible structure that security leaders can use today to govern generative AI responsibly and defensibly. Why Generative AI Governance Matt...

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