LIVE Podcast: Your OT Cyber Plan Is Only as Strong as Your Recovery

LIVE Podcast: Your OT Cyber Plan Is Only as Strong as Your Recovery

We are live for the first time! Recorded in front of a live audience at GrayMatter's Think Do Leadership Summit in Chicago in June 2026, this special episode of Trust Me, It's Air-Gapped brings together a cross-section of four OT security voices for a conversation about industrial cybersecurity. Host Scott Christensen, OT Cybersecurity Practice Lead at GrayMatter, is joined by Zach Vera, Account Manager at AMDT Octoplant; Steve Alger, Digital Transformation Lead at Lear Corporation; and Adam Shepherd, Sr. Systems Admin at REA Magnet Wire. Together they dig into why recovery time scares practitioners (sometimes more than an attack itself), how to make the business case for cyber investment when there's no clean ROI, and what it really takes to bridge the IT/OT divide. The panel also cuts through AI hype on the plant floor, exposes the danger of tribal knowledge and makes the case for treating cybersecurity as a long-term program — not a one-time project. Visit us at graymattersystems.com [https://graymattersystems.com/current-events/#current] to apply to attend our next Think Do Leadership Summits in Atlanta on Aug. 18, 2026, and Pittsburgh on Sept. 15, 2026.

OT Backup Is Just the Beginning: Inside Octoplant's Cyber Defense Layer

In this episode of Trust Me, It's Air-Gapped, host Scott Christensen, Cyber Practice Director, GrayMatter, sits down with Alex Seibel, VP of Global Channel Sales & Strategic Alliances, AMDT — live from Warsaw, Poland — to dig into what's behind the growth of AMDT's OT cybersecurity tool, Octoplant. What started as a backup and version control platform has evolved into a tool that leverages configuration backup data to unlock vulnerability management, asset inventory, compliance auditing and visibility. Octoplant does this without the risks that come from passive network scanning or sending sensitive OT data to the cloud. They also cover the IT/OT divide, and why Octoplant is one of the rare tools that plant engineers and CISOs both actually want to use. Plus, Alex shares a real-world example of a global manufacturer onboarding over 4,000 devices across a production site in just two days. Visit graymattersystems.com [https://www.graymattersystems.com].

Why OT Cybersecurity Begins in Steel-Toe Boots

Tom Sipes, Director of Information Security at Eagle Materials, and Scott Christensen, GrayMatter Cyber Practice Director, share how they collaborated to build an OT cybersecurity program that accounted for many different types of plants and operations at Eagle Materials, a major building materials manufacturer. From a sleepless security incident to leading a multi-year transformation, Tom walks through the challenges of securing highly distributed, acquisition-driven environments with disparate systems and limited visibility. He breaks down why traditional IT approaches fail in OT and how security decisions must always be balanced against operational impact. The episode explores key themes shaping modern OT security: * Why “air-gapped” is a myth in today’s connected plants * The importance of visibility, segmentation, and controlled access * How backup, version control and recovery readiness can prevent issues * Why safety is the top priority in industrial environments Most importantly, Tom emphasizes that OT security is not a one-time fix. It’s an ongoing journey.

Rethinking Trust in Industrial Networks

Scott Christensen of GrayMatter and Dominic Busa from Airwall (JCI) discuss the real-world challenges of securing operational technology environments . Scott and Dominic unpack the limitations of traditional firewall-based security and explain the shift toward identity-defined networking, micro-segmentation and zero trust. Instead of assuming that devices on the same network should trust each other, the model moves toward explicit, policy-driven communication — where Machine A can only talk to Machine B if it’s explicitly allowed . A major theme: segmentation doesn’t have to mean disruption. Through overlay networking, manufacturers can wrap policy around existing flat networks without ripping and replacing infrastructure or taking production offline . The episode also covers: * Secure, time-bound remote access for OEMs and contractors * Replacing costly private radio networks with secure cellular * Protecting legacy, un-patchable systems through compensating controls * Reducing public asset exposure and shrinking attack surfaces * Embedding cybersecurity into digital transformation strategies instead of bolting it on later If you're modernizing operations, moving data to the cloud, or expanding remote access, this episode makes one thing clear: cybersecurity isn’t a checkbox. It’s infrastructure for digital transformation. Visit graymattersystems.com.

Trust Me, It’s Air-Gapped: Why OT Networks Are Rarely Isolated

In the first episode of Trust Me, It’s Air-Gapped, Scott Christensen and Tom Walker take on one of the most common assumptions in OT cybersecurity: that industrial systems can be truly isolated. Based on real assessments across critical infrastructure and manufacturing environments, they break down how air gaps are unintentionally defeated by contractor laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots, cloud-connected devices, remote data collection and well-intentioned IT integrations. Scott and Tom explain why “monitoring only” connections still matter, how undocumented data flows create hidden risk and why PLCs and control PCs often bridge IT and OT without anyone realizing it. They discuss how increased scrutiny from cyber insurers and IT teams is forcing organizations to better understand their OT environments, and why documenting data flows and connectivity is now critical to managing both risk and insurance costs . If you think your environment is air-gapped, this episode explains why it probably isn’t, and what to do about it.