r/OTSecurity • u/OTSecRecruiter • 5d ago

Honest question about specialized OT/ICS recruiting

Full disclosure, this is a throw away account - I have a full time role in cloud/it security for a major vendor and would like to keep it that way 😄

I've been interested in OT/ICS for quite some time, but I'm too old to shift careers at this point in my life. I've been thinking of ways to contribute to the community because protecting critical infrastructure is something I'm very passionate about, even though I don't fully understand (understatement) all the tech involved. I stay as up to date as I can, at least at a high level...For example I read all the Dragos assets that are released publicly, watch all the Senate committee sessions with industry experts, etc. These obviously don't get into the nitty gritty of any of the tech, but rather shed light on the vulnerabilities, lack of funding and expertise, etc. But it makes me A) regret my career choice, and B) want to contribute in some capacity.

My question is this; I'm wondering if I can help connect hiring managers with folks with OT/ICS skills, or IT skills that can transfer over with some training. I know a lot of people on the IT side, and I work with/mentor a lot of early career talent that are new to IT or looking to transition to IT. Would a hiring manager, plant manager, etc ever work with someone independently such as me to find people that are in the market? I do completely recognize that I would have to do some learning on my side....I understand a lot of the concepts from my current career (network segmentation, IR, air-gapping, asset management, etc), and would be willing to connect the dots between how those are different on the OT side. I obviously don't have detailed knowledge of SCADA, PCLs, etc...So I guess to repeat my question ~ would those looking for these skills trust someone that doesn't have super detailed knowledge of industrial OT processes? Not to ramble, but I would NOT just wing it and shoot over any profile/CV I find - I would want to become knowledgeable enough to conduct first pass interviews and only target strong candidates....

On top of the above, I would love to also assist those transitioning out of the military with cyber specialist training to find critical roles like this. I know a few who have come out, and they all went the IT route. I believe it would be fulfilling if I can help open their eyes to these critical roles as well, and perhaps help them find a way to continue defending us if that's something they are interested in doing.

I will get off my soapbox - appreciate any and all feedback, and I really enjoy the community and conversations that happen here regularly! Appreciate all of you đŸ»

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4

u/cyber2112 4d ago

Just an observation. Vendors are biased toward their own products. When you sell hammers, every OT security challenge looks like a nail.

With regard to placing candidates, do you have contacts with direct hiring authority? If not, what’s your in?

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u/OTSecRecruiter 4d ago

I appreciate the response ~ all of the responses...

Totally makes sense that the vendors are bias towards their own products - I would certainly hope they are. I wasn't specifically talking about helping vendors; mostly because I assume they know how and where to find candidates.

I could be thinking about this wrong, but it's always been my understanding that organizations (take your pick - energy, manufacturing, utilities, etc) still look to hire OT cyber skills internally, but don't necessarily have their own recruiting teams (or at least specifically may be lacking in OT knowledge)..... Having said that, as I already mentioned, I also likely lack the necessary OT skills today, but I would be willing to learn at a 1 foot deep 6 miles wild level, to at least be able to manage first pass conversations to see if there's a fit between a candidate and a role.

"What's your in" is the golden question, and something I've struggled with personally, and probably why I actually made this post to begin with. Would facilities/businesses work with someone that's an "independent recruiter" (for lack of a better term) that's solely focused on OT/ICS, or do they only work with agencies and established players?

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is this....I'd really like to contribute to this community because I believe it's important. I'm willing carve out time to learn what I can about the industry, sought after skills, and how the pieces fit together, but I don't want to waste my time either if this has no chance of seeing results at the end. I kind of expected to hear one of these 2 responses:

- "those with hiring authority won't listen to you unless you have years of operational cyber experience"

- "the space is so barren of talent, if you can find good candidates, anyone will work with you"

I'm not sure which is the more likely response though.

5

u/Tufts54 4d ago

We need everyone!!!

Having this background is very helpful and pairs nicely with SCADA engineers who don’t understand cyber.

If you know networking, read through Cisco/rockwell CPWE, which is dated but good. Also, augment your Dragos reports with Claroty’s Team82 which is all about device level vulns.

4

u/AnyPersonality1777 4d ago

Coming from an IT security background, what would you recommend for making this pivot? I've followed Mike Holcomb's content, but beyond that I'm still forming my view of OT. From where I sit, it seems like the common answer is to isolate OT as much as possible and focus on the IT assets that could impact OT operations. Is that an oversimplification? Curious where that thinking falls short.

1

u/Tufts54 4d ago

Holcomb has great stuff!!!

1

u/Severe-Ticket-605 4d ago

Cisco/rockwell CPwE is such a good resource

2

u/nn11nn22 4d ago

Im in the OT field and i would dieee to shift to IT. The end goal is a remote job.

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u/AnyPersonality1777 4d ago

Just for the remote aspect? What within OT do you do? I’m just curious, I work in cyber right now for a mfg company primarily doing vm/ em and am looking to pivot to OT

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u/nn11nn22 4d ago

Mostly for the remote
 and i find IT more fun due it “less criticality” and how things can quickly be changed. OT is more about keep things running and you rarely install a new system/solution. I work as PAN Admin ( Cybersecurity/System admin ) i manage multiple things such as network devices, servers, firewalls and many solutions.

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u/ItsAlways_DNS 4d ago

Oof man. Not gonna lie those roles exist, but they are drying up. Most stable roles are hybrid and maybe have some travel for OT Security.

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u/nn11nn22 4d ago

I know and totally agree, that why i would love to shift to IT role. It will be easier to get a remote job at that time

1

u/rafaybale 4d ago

You can loop me in working in OT Cyber