Derek Harp interviews Donovan Tindill today. Donovan is the Director of OT Cybersecurity at DeNexus. 

Donovan Tindill is a control systems cybersecurity subject matter expert with the Honeywell Industrial Cybersecurity team. He spent over 17 years customer-facing as a control systems cybersecurity consultant in Canada, training/mentoring the technical team, and leading major projects across Consulting Services. Donovan supports global industrial cybersecurity by volunteering to teach, contributing to standards, supporting industry conferences, and sharing thought-provoking presentations. 

He is a former ISA-99/62443 trainer, working group co-chair, and contributor. Donovan is an advisor to both the United States and Canadian government control systems cybersecurity conferences (i.e. US DHS ICSJWG Vice-Chair and Public Safety Canada ICS Symposium Vendor Seat) helping select speakers, drive awareness, and increase knowledge in North America. Donovan has an applied Bachelor’s Degree in Network Engineering and Management (NET:1999, BAIST-NM:-2003) from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and holds CISSP and GICSP certifications.

Donovan grew up in Canada, in rural Alberta, and currently lives in Edmonton. He is a long-time contributor to the cybersecurity space. He has been involved for much longer than most and is way more than just a cybersecurity enthusiast. He is also a professional speaker, husband, father, coach, outdoor enthusiast, camper, handyman, and tinkerer. He joins Derek in this episode to tell his story, unpack his career journey, share his experience, and offer advice.

You won’t want to miss this episode if you are considering a career in cybersecurity. Stay tuned to hear Donovan’s story and benefit from his experience in control systems and cybersecurity!

Show highlights: 

• How video games and networking computers together led Donovan to get into network engineering.
• What the network engineering program is all about and what you can do with it. 
• Donovan discusses a roadblock to growth in the Honeywell cybersecurity business.
• Donavan talks about the first project he worked on at the start of the integration between control systems and networks.
• How has the cybersecurity journey evolved since the early 2000s?
• Donovan talks about his decision to take a leave of absence from Matrikon to complete his degree program.
• The different roles Donovan has been in throughout his career.
• The benefits of volunteering.
• Donovan discusses his motivation for doing what he does in the controls systems cyberspace.
• What will you gain from giving and receiving mentorship?
• Why Donovan decided to move to DeNexus.
• Donovan shares his view of the future.

Links and resources:

(CS)²AI

Donovan Tindill on LinkedIn

DeNexus