Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) held its Eleventh Annual Security Conference on October 1 and 2 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with virtual participation via Webex. This conference aimed to expand physical security awareness through insights shared by industry experts. Security professionals, subject matter experts, and power system engineers attended this free conference.

This two half-day event began at 12:30 p.m. Central on October 1 and concluded at 12:00 p.m. Central on October 2. In-person attendees had the opportunity to network at a reception held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on October 1, with appetizers provided and a cash bar available.

Event Speakers:

• Bryson Bort, founder of SCYTHE and GRIMM and co-founder of the ICS Village
• Patrick Miller, CEO of the industrial cybersecurity consulting firm Ampyx Cyber
• Patrick Kelley, CEO of Critical Path Security
• Mark Johnson-Barbier, Cyber Security Architect, Salt River Project
• Brent Heyen, Senior Principal Cyber Security Architect, Salt River Project
• Michael Rozin, President and Co-Founder of Rozin Security Consulting
• Ian Anderson, Senior Manager Enterprise Security and Monitoring, OGE Energy Corp
• Richard Burt, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, MRO
• Steen J. Fjalstad, Director of Security, MRO

Presentation Topics Included:

• Executive security overview and future outlook for the electricity sector
• Balancing the scales: Managing mental health in cybersecurity
• Internal Network Security Monitoring (INSM)
• The Intersection of IT/OT, Cyber/Physical Security, and Compliance
• Proactive Physical Security Strategies for the Energy Sector
• “Choose Your Own Incident Response”: This interactive keynote walked attendees through an OT-specific incident response scenario, allowing participants to make critical decisions in responding to a cyber incident affecting operational technology (OT).

About the Keynote Speaker: The keynote speaker was Bryson Bort, founder of SCYTHE and GRIMM, and co-founder of the ICS Village. Bort has served as a Senior Fellow at the National Security Institute and as an adjunct senior technical advisor for the Institute of Security and Technology. A former U.S. Army Officer, Bort has been recognized as a “Top 50 in Cyber” by Business Insider.