- Association News
Summary
Bassett named chief editor of InTech
Renee Bassett has been named chief editor of ISA's InTech magazine and Automation.com digital content-delivery site for automation professionals. Bassett replaces Bill Lydon, who will continue with the publications as contributing editor.
Bassett joins ISA's team of publishing professionals that includes Lydon, ISA's group publisher Rick Zabel, and content editor Cory Fogg. In her role, Bassett will work with Zabel to determine publication and content strategy, develop content, and manage the publications' contributors, staff, and production processes. Bassett will be based in Nashville, Tenn.
Bassett is an expert content creator, media manager, and marketing communications specialist in the areas of industrial manufacturing, technology, and automation. She possesses more than 20 years of experience in content generation for technical and nontechnical audiences. Over the course of her career, Bassett has provided her services to leading automation publications-including Automation World and Control Engineering-and developed and implemented media and communications programs for many industrial automation companies.
ISA director of strategic initiatives awarded SANS ICS Lifetime Achievement Award
At the SANS ICS Security Summit in March, ISA director of strategic initiatives Marty Edwards was honored by his peers with the SANS ICS Lifetime Achievement Award.
This award recognizes individuals who have contributed exceptional efforts to enhance the security of industrial control systems on an international scale, and who actively strive to bridge the gap between information technology (IT) and operations technology. Through educational contributions to the community, honorees have significantly increased the awareness of risks to industrial control systems (ICSs) and fostered the idea that cybersecure ICS implementations and defense in ICS are achievable.
"Marty's unwavering commitment to his mission to help industries mature and better defend ICS from evolving cybersecurity threats continues to have an unmistakably positive effect on society," said Mike Assante, director of critical infrastructure and lead for the ICS curriculum at SANS Institute. "His active involvement in the community has made industrial cybersecurity a mainstream topic worthy of attention at the highest levels of government and with public and private companies alike."
As director of strategic initiatives at ISA, Edwards works with government and industry leaders throughout the world to broaden understanding and implementation of the ISA/IEC 62443 cybersecurity standards. These internationally recognized standards are key components of The Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (updated April 2018), a how-to guide developed through the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology to help strengthen the cyberdefenses of critical infrastructure.
Before joining ISA in mid-2017, the 25-year industry veteran was the longest-serving director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT). Under his leadership, the ICS-CERT was awarded the 2013 SC Magazine Security Team of the Year Award and was named as a finalist in the community awareness category in the 2015 Government Information Security Leadership awards.
Edwards also served as a program manager focused on control systems security at the Idaho National Laboratory and has held a variety of roles in the instrumentation and automation fields. He holds a diploma of technology in process control and industrial automation (magna cum laude) from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and in 2015 received the institute's distinguished alumni award. In 2016, Edwards was recognized by FCW in its "Federal 100 Awards" as being one of the top IT professionals in the U.S. federal government.
Edwards is currently the managing director of the Automation Federation, founded by ISA in 2006. This association of nonprofit member organizations is dedicated to fostering economic growth and manufacturing innovation by helping industry harness the immense capabilities and potential of automation technologies and applications.
ISA supports Cyber Shield
In April, ISA provided operational technology (OT) training in support of the U.S. Army National Guard’s national cyberoperations exercise, Cyber Shield. Cyber Shield 19, held at Camp Atterbury, Ind., brought together approximately 800 Army and Air National Guard network defenders and world-class cybersecurity professionals, industry network owners, and others to train the next generation of cyberwarriors.
“The training that soldiers and airmen obtained through Cyber Shield 19 and the National Guard adds to their ability to conduct their civilian jobs, and, vice versa, the training and experience they receive in their civilian positions strengthen the military’s cyber capabilities. They become very valuable assets in protecting critical infrastructure,” said George Battistelli, the Army National Guard Cybersecurity program manager, information technology strategy division chief, and the Cyber Shield 19 exercise director.
Cyber Shield includes a critical training component with courses and seminars organized into tracks based on the roles of the participating cyberteam members.
“We focus on getting people prepared for cyberdefense,” said Col. Teri Williams, commander, Cyber Shield 19. “There are a lot of people we bring to the table for that first week of training. Microsoft, CISCO, and SANS are on hand for some of the cyberdefensive training. The International Society of Automation provides ICS/SCADA network training. We also focus on the offensive side. Our belief is that the better that you are trained on the offensive side the stronger a defender you will be.”
ISA was selected by the National Guard because of its leadership and experience in developing the world’s only consensus-based series of industrial cybersecurity standards, ISA/IEC 62443. These standards, which also serve as the basis for ISA cybersecurity training, protect the industrial automation and control systems and networks that operate OT machinery and associated devices within critical infrastructure.
Reader Feedback
We want to hear from you! Please send us your comments and questions about this topic to InTechmagazine@isa.org.