Podcast: Simply ICS Cyber
Episode: S2 E8: The Value of ICS & OT Exercises
Pub date: 2025-11-19

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In this episode of Simply ICS Cyber, Don and Tom welcome Sam Blaney, retired Chief Warrant Officer (CW3) from the Georgia National Guard and current cybersecurity professor at the University of North Georgia.

Sam shares insights from his career building and leading Cyber Protection Team 170, his transition into teaching, and his continued work helping state and local governments strengthen cybersecurity.

The conversation digs into Sam’s recent experience coaching students at the Department of Energy CyberForce Competition, where the University of North Georgia team defended a simulated offshore drilling platform with both IT and OT components.

Sam discusses what made the event realistic, how students approached identity and access management, OT network analysis, and what they learned about preparation, tooling, and industrial control system challenges.

The group also explores:

- Effective defense preparation for cyber competitions
- Building and tuning SIEM tools for constrained environments
- The value of exercises like CCDC and CyberShield
- How multidisciplinary tabletops improve communication across organizations
- The increasing role of AI in attack and defense, including the Anthropic AI-assisted malware research
- Concerns about AI-driven automation, skill multiplier effects, and the importance of understanding fundamentals

Resources:

Sam Blaney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samblaney65/
University of North Georgia: https://ung.edu/DOE
CyberForce Program: https://cyberforce.energy.gov/
US CyberCom: https://www.cybercom.mil/
National Guard Cyber Defense Team: https://www.nationalguard.mil/Portals/31/Resources/Fact%20Sheets/Cyber%20Defense%20Team%202022.pdf
National Guard CyberShield: https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/CyberShield25
Anthropic Malware Write-up: https://www.anthropic.com/news/disrupting-AI-espionage

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Connect with your hosts on LinkedIn:
- Don https://linkedin.com/in/cutaway
- Tom https://linkedin.com/in/thomasvannorman

Learn about ICS Village: https://www.linkedin.com/company/icsvillage
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