To celebrate their European expansion, Dragos Inc. held its first Dragos Europe Forum at the iconic Battersea Power Station June 26-28. The event brought together members of the operational technology (OT) community to inform, exchange ideas, and network. The event was a celebration of the growing community of practitioners focused on OT cybersecurity in Europe and a testament to Dragos’s commitment in the region. The three-day event also included training and workshops for attendees.
The event featured a keynote address by Dragos CEO and Co-Founder Robert M. Lee, on the industrial threat landscape, during which he introduced the event’s most prevalent theme: the need to take immediate action to improve ICS/OT cybersecurity and the critical role cybersecurity plays in operational resilience. Following the keynote, experts from Dragos, partners, and OT asset owners and operators led sessions on a range of topics, from OT incident response, to the important role cybersecurity practitioners play at plants, PIPEDREAM as the first OT attack framework capable of impacting all industrial sectors through multiple deployments; and how to establish an OT Security Operations Center (SOC). The three-day event also included training and workshops for attendees. PIPEDREAM was first revealed earlier this year in the annual Year in Review report put out by the company.
Tony Atkins, Area Vice President, Europe and Africa of Dragos, adds: “With the rapidly developing threat landscape we at Dragos are passionate about helping industrial owners and operators do all they can, with what they have, from where they are, to improve their ICS/OT cybersecurity posture. Attendees told us it was invaluable to participate as a community, sharing lessons learned And best practices, and focusing on pragmatic consequence-driven approaches. We will continue to foster this community and I am already looking forward to next years’ event!”
Approximately 150 OT asset owners and operators from 16 countries attended the inaugural event for Dragos in Europe. The venue, the newly refurbished Battersea Power Station, was a nod to how practitioners in the energy industry were trailblazers for early cybersecurity protection adoption. As Dragos Chief of Staff Phil Tonkin described during opening remarks, Battersea took three years to supply energy to London—signifying determination—and over 30 years to reach completion—showing longevity. These values align with Dragos’ mission to safeguard civilisation, both in the immediate future and long-term.