PrOTect It All

Aaron Crow | Operational Technology & Cybersecurity Host
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Technology
  • Updated Weekly

PrOTect IT All with Aaron Crow delivers weekly episodes focused on cybersecurity and operational technology, tackling emerging threats across industrial control systems, AI security, and IoT threats. The show emphasizes enterprise risk management, manufacturing security, power grid security, and threat intelligence, providing listeners with authentic conversations from security leaders and practitioners. It’s a resource for those committed to real-world IT operations security and understanding AI risks in critical infrastructures.

  1. 5d ago

    Own Your Industrial Airspace: Wireless, Vendors, and the Parking Lot Crane Hack with Scott McNeil

    Work with Aaron: https://protectitallpod.com/work/ The book: https://protectitallpod.com/book/ This episode: https://protectitallpod.com/ep125/ The OT Security Starter Kit: https://protectitallpod.com/starter-kit/ A wireless engineer sat in a parking lot, connected to a plant's crane anti-collision network, and had everything he needed to stop the cranes inside 20 minutes. Nobody inside the fence ever knew he was there. In this episode of Protect It All, host Aaron Crow talks with Scott McNeil, Industrial Network and Security Architect II at Global Process Automation (GPA), about the part of the OT network most plants never look at: the airspace. Scott has spent more than 20 years in networking and wireless, the last ten of them entirely in OT, and he sits in the integrator's seat, working across every manufacturer's gear without a product to sell. The conversation starts where most plants actually are: one flat network, off the shelf gear on the floor, and no budget. Scott's argument is that the low hanging fruit costs time and effort, not money, and that a stable network is the foundation for everything security asks for later: segmentation, inventory, monitoring, then a firewall between OT and IT. He walks through war driving your own plant, why a hidden SSID is not security, the wild west of industrial wireless protocols, wireless that was abandoned in power plants years ago and is still on the air, and where wireless earns its place. The second half is about vendors and access. Do not take the vendor's word for it, ask the questions before the gear ships, and treat every third party connection as your own exposure. Scott's rule for remote access is simple: this is my house, vendors connect on my terms, every session logged, with an approve or deny button before anyone gets in. Aaron adds the zip tie in the fan story, a backup switch that had silently failed months earlier and nobody knew until monitoring went on, and the two close on shrinking the wireless footprint that leaves your site and on Scott's podcast, The Industrial Wi-Fi Shop. In this episode, you'll learn: Why a stable network comes before any security project, and what to fix first How to war drive your own plant and what a passive scan of your airspace tells an attacker Why hiding the SSID and relying on obscurity is not a control Which industrial wireless protocols are standards based and which are proprietary risk The questions to ask a wireless vendor before you sign How to run vendor remote access on your terms: logged sessions, approve or deny, no standing tunnels Why monitoring finds failures you did not know you had Tune in to hear why your industrial airspace deserves the same design, monitoring, and ownership as any wired connection. About the guest: Scott McNeil is an Industrial Network and Security Architect II at Global Process Automation (GPA), where he helps manufacturers design, secure, and modernize the OT networks that keep critical processes running: architecture, IT/OT convergence, segmentation, resilient connectivity, and industrial wireless. A longtime wireless engineer, he created and co-hosts The Industrial WiFi Shop Podcast with Jeremy Baker, speaks regularly at OT and industrial cybersecurity events, holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Technology from East Carolina University with multiple wireless and network certifications, and serves on the UNC Wilmington Cybersecurity Advisory Board. Important Links: LinkedIn of Scott McNeil:

    Own Your Industrial Airspace: Wireless, Vendors, and the Parking Lot Crane Hack with Scott McNeil

  2. Sep 21

    Regulation Is the Budget Unlock OT Has Been Waiting For: NIS2, the CRA, and Getting the Basics Right with Tobias Nitzsche

    Work with Aaron: https://protectitallpod.com/work/ The book: https://protectitallpod.com/book/ This episode: https://protectitallpod.com/ep124/ The OT Security Starter Kit: https://protectitallpod.com/starter-kit/ NIS2, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and CIRCIA are converging between now and 2027, and for the first time the law is pushing cybersecurity requirements upstream into product design and supply chain. What does that actually change on the plant floor? In this episode of Protect It All, host Aaron Crow talks with Tobias Nitzsche, Head of Legislation and Technology for Cybersecurity at ABB Energy Industries, about the shift regulation is driving in OT: responsibility moving from the server rooms into the boardrooms, and from the operator to the manufacturer. Tobias makes the case that what gets regulated are fundamentally the basics: risk assessment, asset inventory, cyber hygiene, and detection. The industry has preached these for a decade. Now the law demands them, which makes compliance the business case that finally unlocks long-overdue modernization budget. His advice: do not treat legislation as a paper exercise. Treat it as a utility. The second half is about recovery, the foundation most plants skip. Aaron and Tobias dig into the vendor-install backup that has never been tested, recovery targets that ignore how long a plant really takes to come back, retain values operators tuned for years that live nowhere else, redundant controllers that are not cyber resilience, and vendor SLAs that send a system engineer when you needed a cyber expert. Tobias's practical pattern: keep a replica of your critical systems, restore into the bubble, and be as intrusive as you like there, scanners and all, without touching production. Also in this one: NIS2 Article 20 and personal liability for executives, why a cyber incident does not need a nation state (bad firmware counts), where AI belongs in the Purdue model and where it does not, AI as the daily brief for the one-person water utility, Aaron's Exchange 5.5 story about the week the executives lost their email, borrowing the safety engineers' hazard studies as risk input, and why you should never fire up a wireless pineapple on an airplane. In this episode, you'll learn: How NIS2, the Cyber Resilience Act, and CIRCIA move accountability to executives and manufacturers Why 24-hour incident reporting starts with detection, and why you can't wing it How to reframe your next modernization budget ask around compliance What a real recovery plan needs: tested backups, plant-realistic RPO and RTO, and captured retain values Why redundant controllers protect against failure, not compromise How to test restores and run scanners safely in a replica instead of production Where AI helps an understaffed operator and where it should never take control Tune in to hear how the biggest regulatory wave in industrial cybersecurity history can become the budget unlock OT has been waiting for. About the guest: Tobias Nitzsche is Head of Legislation and Technology for Cybersecurity at ABB Energy Industries, where he translates the fast-moving regulatory landscape, including NIS2, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and CIRCIA, into how products are designed and projects are delivered for critical infrastructure. Before this role he was ABB's Global Cyber Security Practice Lead, capping more than 20 years across IT and OT security. Having sat on both sides of the table, first delivering cybersecurity services to critical infrastructure operators and now shaping...

    Regulation Is the Budget Unlock OT Has Been Waiting For: NIS2, the CRA, and Getting the Basics Right with Tobias Nitzsche

  3. Sep 14

    AI in OT: Why Humans Stay in the Loop and the Junior Problem with Jori VanAntwerp

    Work with Aaron: https://protectitallpod.com/work/ The book: https://protectitallpod.com/book/ This episode: https://protectitallpod.com/ep123/ The OT Security Starter Kit: https://protectitallpod.com/starter-kit/ AI is a consensus engine, and consensus on the internet is frequently wrong. So what does that mean for the people defending power plants, water systems, and factories with it? In this episode of Protect It All, host Aaron Crow welcomes back Jori VanAntwerp, CEO and founder of EmberOT, for a completely unscripted conversation on AI in OT. Two practitioners who use AI aggressively every day make the case for restraint in exactly the places that matter. Jori explains why human in the loop is non-negotiable: AI shapes a junior's output to look senior without the understanding underneath, so you have to be able to interrogate it. Aaron walks through his own sandbox discipline, where AI gets a folder and not the keys, and nothing goes in that he would not publish on the internet. The conversation then turns to the OT reality behind AI-found vulnerabilities, why an attacker who can reach your HMI or PLC does not need your unpatched CVE, teaching AI your voice with markdown primers, the build-versus-buy MVP trap, the submarine principle for modular defense, and why an operator flipping to manual is still the save of last resort. Underneath all of it is the workforce math nobody is doing on air: if one person plus AI does the work of five, nobody is training juniors, and no juniors today means no seniors in ten years. OT's aging-out workforce is the preview. In this episode, you'll learn: Why AI is a consensus engine, and why that framing predicts where it fails Why human in the loop is not optional for anything that matters How to sandbox AI in real workflows: a folder, not the keys How to rank AI-found vulnerabilities against what an attacker in your OT network can actually do How primers teach AI your voice, brand, and rules The build versus buy trap: if a power company builds its own software, it is now a software company The submarine principle: compartments, modular tooling, and swapping tools without ripping out the estate Why analog fallbacks and operators keep saving critical infrastructure The junior pipeline problem: no juniors today means no seniors in ten years Why the entry-level job for OT cybersecurity is IT Tune in for the most honest AI conversation the show has had, from the people who actually run it in OT. About the guest: Jori VanAntwerp is a two-time cybersecurity founder and CEO who has spent over two decades helping industrial and IT/OT organizations reduce risk, strengthen compliance, and mature the way they defend critical infrastructure. He has held executive and leadership roles at McAfee, FireEye, CrowdStrike, Dragos, and Gravwell before stepping into the founder seat, first at SynSaber and now as the Founder and CEO at EmberOT. The result is a vantage point that runs from the boardroom to the packet capture, from silicon to the cloud. At EmberOT, he is focused on bringing visibility, security, and risk quantification to the critical infrastructure the rest of the world takes for granted. From EmberOT: Want to see what is really happening in your OT environment? EmberOT provides flow-first, passive OT visibility and threat detection without requiring proprietary hardware. Learn more about EmberOT...

    AI in OT: Why Humans Stay in the Loop and the Junior Problem with Jori VanAntwerp

  4. Sep 7

    Building the Cybersecurity Community: From 120 People to 3,000 at CYBR.SEC.CON

    Work with Aaron: https://protectitallpod.com/work/ The book: https://protectitallpod.com/book/ This episode: https://protectitallpod.com/ep122/ The OT Security Starter Kit: https://protectitallpod.com/starter-kit/ Get your tickets for CYBR.SEC.CON., a two-day cybersecurity conference, here: https://www.cybrseccon.com/ What started with 120 people and a homemade Word flyer has grown into a cybersecurity community of more than 3,000. So what does it take to build a community that can scale without losing its personal connection? In this episode of Protect It All, host Aaron Crow sits down with Michael Farnum, CEO and co-founder of CYBR.SEC.Community, and Sam Van Ryder, co-founder and an OT sales expert, to explore the story behind the growth of CYBR.SEC.CON and the community surrounding it. Michael and Sam share how they went from a grassroots cybersecurity gathering to a thriving community while keeping the relationships and sense of connection that made the event special in the first place. The conversation goes beyond conferences. Aaron, Michael, and Sam discuss the challenges facing people trying to break into cybersecurity and OT, why entry-level opportunities can be difficult to find, and what experienced professionals can do to help develop the next generation of cyber defenders. They also share their hands-on efforts to introduce young people to cybersecurity, including bringing 75 high school students into the community, with plans to reach 150. From hiring and firing lessons to career advice, community building, and the future of OT cybersecurity, this episode offers practical insight for anyone looking to grow their career, build meaningful connections, or help strengthen the cybersecurity workforce. In this episode, you'll learn: How CYBR.SEC.Community grew from 120 people to more than 3,000 What it takes to scale a cybersecurity community without losing its personal feel Why conferences can play an important role in cybersecurity careers How to break into OT and cybersecurity when you're just starting out The challenges surrounding entry-level cybersecurity jobs How community and mentorship can help develop the next generation of cyber professionals What CYBR.SEC.Community is doing to engage high school students in cybersecurity Coming September 15 and 16, 2026 CYBR.SEC.CON 2026 brings the cybersecurity community together again on September 15 and 16 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. If you're looking to connect with cybersecurity professionals, expand your network, learn from practitioners, discover career opportunities, and be part of a growing cyber community, CYBR.SEC.CON 2026 is an event worth checking out. Tune in to hear the story behind CYBR.SEC.CON, the people building the community, and why the future of cybersecurity depends on bringing more people into the conversation. About the guests: Michael Farnum is the CEO and co-founder of CYBR.SEC.Community and has worked in IT and cybersecurity since 1994. He founded HOU.SEC.CON. in 2010, which evolved into CYBR.SEC.CON., now attracting more than 3,000 cybersecurity professionals annually. Michael is passionate about cybersecurity community building, workforce development, education, and career development, and is a frequent speaker and podcaster on security leadership and industry trends....

    Building the Cybersecurity Community: From 120 People to 3,000 at CYBR.SEC.CON

  5. Aug 31

    What Makes a Cybersecurity Startup Valuable in the AI Era? A VC's Perspective

    Work with Aaron: https://protectitallpod.com/work/ The book: https://protectitallpod.com/book/ This episode: https://protectitallpod.com/ep121/ The OT Security Starter Kit: https://protectitallpod.com/starter-kit/ AI has made it easier than ever to build a cybersecurity product. But has it also made it harder to build a valuable cybersecurity company? In this episode of Protect It All, host Aaron Crow sits down with Ken Elefant, Founding Managing Director of the venture group at Sorenson Capital, for a candid conversation about what really makes cybersecurity startups succeed. Ken shares a venture investor's perspective on the rapidly changing security market, including why simply wrapping a product around an LLM may not create lasting value, how AI is accelerating commoditization, and what founders need to do to build a meaningful competitive advantage. The conversation goes beyond technology to explore the often-overlooked role of people, process, market positioning, and execution. Aaron and Ken discuss the importance of finding the right "wedge" into enterprise security, solving real customer problems, differentiating in crowded markets, and building companies that can create lasting value rather than chasing the latest technology trend. They also draw on lessons from successful cybersecurity exits and the changing threat landscape to examine what investors are looking for as AI reshapes both cybersecurity products and the businesses behind them. Key Learning:  What venture investors look for in cybersecurity startups Why AI-powered security products can quickly become commoditized How founders can find a strong market wedge Why solving a real customer problem matters more than adding AI The role of people and process in building successful security companies How cybersecurity startups can differentiate in an increasingly crowded market What founders and operators can learn from successful security exits Where AI is creating genuine opportunity and where the hype may be ahead of the value Key Moments:  03:43 Using AI in podcasting 07:41 Trusting vendors and cybersecurity risks 10:59 Building Connections for Early Investments 15:19 Investing in emerging tech markets 17:45 Supporting AI-based startup growth 20:19 Building simple websites for businesses 26:03 Attracted to boring, overlooked markets 27:21 Building compliance products at Industrial Defender 30:16 Investing in defense tech startups 33:20 Experienced founders leveraging AI for products 38:32 Navigating fast-changing tech landscape 40:09 Importance of Building Trust in Business Whether you're a cybersecurity founder, investor, security practitioner, technology leader, or entrepreneur, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at how experienced investors evaluate innovation in one of the fastest-moving areas of technology. Tune in to hear what separates a promising cybersecurity idea from a company capable of creating lasting value. DISCLAIMER : "Any portfolio companies mentioned in this episode are investments of Sorenson Capital funds and do not represent all fund investments. A complete list of investments is available upon request. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation to buy securities." About the guest :  ...

    What Makes a Cybersecurity Startup Valuable in the AI Era? A VC's Perspective

  6. Aug 24

    Million-Dollar Buttons: How Offshore OT Is Embracing Containers and Modern Cybersecurity

    Work with Aaron: https://protectitallpod.com/work/ The book: https://protectitallpod.com/book/ This episode: https://protectitallpod.com/ep120/ The OT Security Starter Kit: https://protectitallpod.com/starter-kit/ Offshore oil and gas operations don't have the luxury of simply shutting everything down and starting over. In this episode of Protect It All, host Aaron Crow sits down with Josh Herr and Matt McLendon to explore the real-world challenges of modernizing cybersecurity and technology in offshore operational technology (OT) environments. From million-dollar equipment and aging control systems to virtualization, containers, and edge computing, this conversation reveals what it actually takes to keep critical industrial operations running when technology fails, hardware is difficult to replace, and downtime can come at an enormous cost. Aaron, Josh, and Matt share stories from the field, including the creative decisions operators sometimes have to make to keep one rig running when another goes down. They also explore the gradual shift from legacy Windows and Sun workstations toward Linux, containerization, and newer approaches to managing industrial systems. But this isn't simply a conversation about replacing old technology with new technology. It's about understanding the realities of OT cybersecurity, where reliability, availability, safety, cost, and security all have to work together. Key Learning:  Why offshore OT environments present unique cybersecurity challenges How legacy systems continue to influence modern industrial operations Why containers and virtualization are gaining ground in OT How operators balance cybersecurity with uptime and reliability The surprising realities of maintaining aging industrial hardware What the shift from Windows to Linux can mean for OT environments How creative problem-solving can keep critical operations running Where AI, containers, and modern infrastructure could take OT next Key Moments: 06:16 Frustrations with vendor costs and delays 09:34 Offshore connectivity and autonomy challenges 13:02 Managing power plants across Texas 16:19 Challenges with industrial HMIs and alarms 19:40 Vendor control and security policies 21:16 Component delays and industry characters 24:08 Final integration testing and safety factors 28:20 Vendor management challenges with outdated tech 34:02 Missing sysadmin skills in industry 35:59 Challenges with ARM architecture 41:09 Managing hardware life cycles 44:23 Concerns about AI and open source 45:43 Future of JavaScript and integration Whether you work in oil and gas, industrial cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, engineering, or OT operations, this episode offers an honest look at the gap between cybersecurity theory and what actually works in the field. Listen in for the war stories, lessons learned, and "art of the possible" approaches helping bring modern technology into some of the world's most challenging OT environments. About the guests:  Matt is a multidisciplinary team leader and technology practitioner with experience spanning electrical systems, controls, automation, data systems, and IS/IT. His background includes offshore oil and gas electronics, systems administration, and computer hardware, with a strong emphasis on troubleshooting and componen...

    Million-Dollar Buttons: How Offshore OT Is Embracing Containers and Modern Cybersecurity

  7. Aug 17

    AI Agent Security: How to Stop Autonomous AI from Becoming Your Biggest Insider Threat

    Work with Aaron: https://protectitallpod.com/work/ The book: https://protectitallpod.com/book/ This episode: https://protectitallpod.com/ep119/ The OT Security Starter Kit: https://protectitallpod.com/starter-kit/ AI agents are becoming more autonomous - but are they becoming more secure? In this episode of Protect It All, host Aaron Crow welcomes David Girvin for a timely discussion about one of the fastest-growing challenges in cybersecurity: AI agent security and governance. From an unconventional career as a ship captain to building one of the first governance platforms for AI agents, David shares why organizations must begin treating AI agents as powerful digital coworkers with permissions, identities, and risks that require the same level of oversight as human employees. Together, Aaron and David explore how autonomous AI systems can unintentionally create business risk, why credential starvation, execution-layer security, and human-in-the-loop controls are becoming essential, and how organizations can safely adopt AI without sacrificing security. In this episode, you'll learn: Why AI agents should be treated like insider threats The biggest security risks of autonomous AI How guardrails prevent costly AI mistakes Why human oversight still matters in an AI-driven world What credential starvation means and why it's effective Practical governance strategies for enterprise AI adoption Key Moments:  05:31 Career paths and diverse experiences 06:24 Startup experiences and mentoring journey 09:30 Exploring a career shift to marketing 15:30 Building a Successful Career 18:20 Governance and AI risks 19:24 Early AI research and presentation 23:19 Just-in-time tokens discussion 27:52 Balancing work, family, and startup challenges 30:48 Transitioning from Operations to Events 35:18 Industry friendships and shared experiences 36:04 Work stress and job challenges 39:49 Securing AI systems and LLM inputs 43:46 Developing AI observability tools 47:56 Managing session risk and autonomy levels 51:14 Security and file management controls 55:34 Cybersecurity awareness chat Whether you're building AI applications, leading cybersecurity programs, or simply exploring how AI will change your business, this episode offers practical insights into securing the next generation of intelligent systems. Tune in to learn how organizations can embrace AI innovation while keeping people, data, and critical systems protected. About the guest : David Girvin is a cybersecurity leader, security architect, and Founder & CEO of Assury.ai, where he is building execution-level governance for AI agents. With leadership experience at companies including 1Password, Red Canary, and Sumo Logic, David has spent his career helping organizations strengthen security, architecture, and AI strategy. He specializes in making complex cybersecurity and AI concepts practical and accessible, helping businesses adopt emerging technologies securely and responsibly. Links to connect David:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-a-girvin/  Website: https://assury.ai Learn more about PrOTect IT All: Work with Aaron:

    AI Agent Security: How to Stop Autonomous AI from Becoming Your Biggest Insider Threat

  8. Aug 10

    AI & Cybersecurity: Why People, Accountability & Resilience Still Matter

    Work with Aaron: https://protectitallpod.com/work/ The book: https://protectitallpod.com/book/ This episode: https://protectitallpod.com/ep118/ The OT Security Starter Kit: https://protectitallpod.com/starter-kit/ AI is changing cybersecurity at an incredible pace. But are organizations prepared for the risks that come with it? In this episode of Protect It All, host Aaron Crow sits down with Brian Schleifer, an industry veteran with decades of experience spanning the military, technology, consulting, defense, and critical infrastructure. Aaron and Brian explore what it really takes to adopt AI responsibly across IT and OT cybersecurity. Beyond the technology itself, they examine the human side of security, including communication, collaboration, accountability, and the skills needed to make new technologies work in the real world. The conversation also tackles the growing challenges of AI governance, shadow AI, continuous monitoring, and cyber-physical resilience. Rather than treating AI as a magic solution, Brian offers a practical perspective on how organizations can be intentional about where and how they use AI while preparing for the disruptions it may create. Key Learnings:  How organizations can approach AI adoption in IT and OT cybersecurity Why communication and collaboration are critical to successful security programs The growing risks of shadow AI and AI governance Why human accountability remains essential as AI becomes more capable How continuous monitoring can strengthen cyber-physical security Why organizations need to think beyond prevention and prepare for resilience and business continuity How people, process, and technology must work together in an AI-driven environment Key Moments:  05:22 Working in tech and cybersecurity 07:23 Importance of people skills in business 10:20 Importance of Listening First 14:31 Implementing Machine Learning Thoughtfully 16:44 Importance of Human Oversight in AI 20:21 Discussing security and human accountability 24:24 Publishing a book with AI tools 27:47 Future of computing technology 31:39 Focusing on disaster recovery strategies 35:27 Budgeting Challenges with Emerging Tech 38:00 Focus on proactive security planning 40:40 Evaluating cybersecurity effectiveness 45:49 Challenges in incident response logistics 47:33 Talking about Security Week events Whether you're a cybersecurity leader, OT professional, technology executive, or simply trying to understand what AI means for the future of security, this episode offers practical perspectives on navigating the change without losing sight of what matters most. Listen to the latest episode of Protect It All and discover how organizations can embrace AI while building the trust, accountability, and resilience needed to protect what matters. About the Guest :  Brian "SchleiF" Schleifer is a retired United States Air Force veteran, cybersecurity professional, content leader, and owner of PAVE Consulting LLC, which provides digital content creation and cybersecurity consulting. Through PAVE Consulting, he currently supports SecurityWeek as Director of Content and Events, helping lead conferences, podcasts, webinars, and executive-level cybersecurity programming. Brian previously served in senior cybersecurity engineering and leadership roles at Modern Technology Solutions Inc. His exper...

    AI & Cybersecurity: Why People, Accountability & Resilience Still Matter
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Ratings & Reviews

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About

PrOTect IT All with Aaron Crow delivers weekly episodes focused on cybersecurity and operational technology, tackling emerging threats across industrial control systems, AI security, and IoT threats. The show emphasizes enterprise risk management, manufacturing security, power grid security, and threat intelligence, providing listeners with authentic conversations from security leaders and practitioners. It’s a resource for those committed to real-world IT operations security and understanding AI risks in critical infrastructures.

Information

  • Creator
    Aaron Crow | Operational Technology & Cybersecurity Host
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    125
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024
  • Show Website
    PrOTect It All

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