The biggest mistake we make in managing OT/ICS cybersecurity is not taking a little time to look around and see what is happening outside our own environments. Everyone is busy, especially in OT/ICS where we're asked to do A LOT more with A LOT less. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, literally just trying to keep the lights on, the clean water flowing, and safe food on the table.

But if we only took just a few minutes each day to look around and see what is happening, to ask, "Can this happen to us?" And if so, ask, "What can we do about it?" If our teams just took those few minutes each day, even just each week, the world would be a much more secure and safer place.

And yet, in 2026, we still see Internet-facing PLCs being compromised for impact; we're seeing vibe-coded tools used to target OT; we're seeing not only a growing number of attacks, but also increasing impacts. The vast majority of which could be avoided if we just took a few minutes to look around.

In this session, OT/ICS cybersecurity educator Mike Holcomb demonstrates how to build a program using freely available tools and resources to help organizations raise awareness of the developing threats around them. And that greater awareness can lead to more leadership support, a better understanding of true risk in the OT/ICS world, and safer, more reliable critical infrastructure.

Attendees will learn practical ways to quickly monitor relevant developments, evaluate whether an external incident could affect their own operations, and translate intelligence into meaningful defensive action - all without having to be an OT/ICS threat analyst. The session will provide an accessible approach for organizations of any size or maturity level, proving that better situational awareness does not always require a large budget or an expensive threat intelligence platform.