In process safety the hierarchy of controls has been used for years to prioritize the most effective risk reduction measures to bring process safety risk to tolerable levels. A similar approach should be applied to cybersecurity risks as well to ensure that organizations design cyber-resiliency into the process control network as opposed to adding cybersecurity as an afterthought. Today cybersecurity considerations are often added after the fact with a heavy reliance on ineffective administrative measures. This webinar will provide practical examples for applying the hierarchy of controls to cybersecurity using techniques from Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) and inherently secure design, which can be applied at the site, system, and device level.
exida Recorded Webinars
How to Apply Inherently Safer Design to Cybersecurity
Recording Date: March 2025
About the Presenter:
Patrick O'Brien
Patrick O’Brien is the Assistant Director of Engineering at exida, LLC, where he helps lead a team of engineers in delivering functional safety, cybersecurity, and alarm management services. He has led cybersecurity risk assessments, training courses, and other lifecycle activities for many different applications, including oil and gas, specialty chemical, critical infrastructure, machinery, and robotics. In addition to his cybersecurity role, he also provides consulting services in the areas of process safety, functional safety, and machine safety.
He is a coauthor of Implementing IEC 62443: A Pragmatic Approach to Cybersecurity and the principal author of the CCPS concept book Managing Cybersecurity in the Process Industries – A Risk-based Approach. Patrick represents exida on the International Society of Automation Global Cybersecurity Alliance (ISAGCA). Mr. O’Brien graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in German Language and Culture.