Overview

Industrial cyber security is usually framed as an IT problem with an OT annex. For the engineers who run process plants, that framing is backwards. A cyber compromise of a control system is, first and foremost, a process integrity problem, and the earliest signals of one are the same signals engineers already watch every day.

This webinar takes an engineering-led view of cyber-physical incident response. Drawing on well-documented public incidents, including the TRITON attack on a safety-instrumented system, the Stuxnet manipulation of centrifuges behind a normal-looking HMI, the Ukraine power grid attacks, and the Oldsmar water treatment setpoint change, it examines what these events looked like at the plant level and what the engineering response required.

The session focuses on three questions every process and control engineer should be able to answer. How do I recognise a process anomaly that might be a cyber event rather than an equipment fault? How do I know whether I can still trust my instrumentation? And where is the boundary between the security team's responsibility and mine, particularly when the decision is whether to bring the process to a safe state?

The webinar is entirely vendor-neutral and draws on generalised industry patterns rather than any specific organisation. It is aimed at process, control, and operations engineers, and at anyone working at the increasingly blurred line between engineering and cyber security.

Speaker

Nicholas Egunjobi, Consultant, Operational Technology & Security, Accenture

Nicholas Egunjobi is a consultant in Accenture's Operational Technology & Security practice, working at the intersection of physical AI, industrial safety, and incident response. A chemical engineer by training (M.Eng, University of Leeds), he supports incident response and network security monitoring across industrial and process environments, and designs and delivers OT tabletop exercises for enterprise clients. His work focuses on the point where a cyber event becomes a process event, and on the engineering judgement required to respond to it. He holds the GIAC GRID certification and CISSP, with prior experience across nuclear power, oil and gas, and manufacturing, including work with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The material presented has not been peer-reviewed. Any opinions are the presenter’s own and do not necessarily represent those of IChemE or the Process Management and Control Special Interest Group. The information is given in good faith but without any liability on the part of IChemE.

Time

09:00–10:00 GMT.

Software

The presentation will be delivered via Microsoft Teams. We recommend downloading the app from the Microsoft website, rather than using the web portal.