Thursday, July 24, 2025, 10am -11 am CDT - Critical Function Analysis & Engineered Controls Seminar

This 1-hour virtual seminar on Critical Function Analysis & Engineered Controls is essential for Engineers, Operators, Technicians, IT/OT Cybersecurity Specialists, and Managers in industrial environments. It provides vital insights into identifying crucial system components, understanding dependencies, and embedding robust security controls into designs to enhance resilience against escalating cyber threats. This session offers a foundational look at key principles of Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE), preceding our comprehensive August training. This seminar will be conducted by experts from Idaho National Labs (INL).

Why Attend?

In an era of escalating cyber threats against critical infrastructure, understanding what truly matters in your systems and how to proactively build in defenses is paramount. Traditional engineering is no longer enough to protect against attacks occurring about 13 times every second, ransomware impacting nearly 1 in 4 breaches, and OT/ICS vulnerabilities surging by 70%. This seminar will highlight why a consequence-driven approach and engineered controls are vital for safeguarding operations, minimizing vulnerabilities, and building systems that are resilient from the ground up, aligning with the core tenets of Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE).

What You Will Learn:

This focused seminar will provide vital insights and foundational knowledge on Critical Function Analysis & Engineered Controls, enabling you to:

• Explain necessary versus unnecessary features and components within an industrial system.

• Identify how unnecessary system elements can introduce vulnerabilities or allow for manipulation.

• Identify and describe the specific nature of systems and capabilities that a system is dependent upon to perform its critical functions.

• Analyze how downstream systems and capabilities are dependent upon a system's critical functions.

Who Should Attend?

This seminar is essential for Engineers, Operators, Technicians, IT/OT Cybersecurity Specialists, and Managers in industrial environments who need to understand system criticality and proactive defense strategies.

About the Organizers:

This seminar is part of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded initiative, the Cybersecurity Consortium for Innovation, which emphasizes building resilience by integrating robust cybersecurity into engineering design and operations. This effort is a collaboration with partners including Forge Institute, the University of Arkansas, UA Little Rock, and Bastazo, working to establish a stackable certification program called Cyber-Informed Engineering.

August 12, 2025, Igniting Ingenuity: Lab Insights with Phillip Huff, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Bastazo

Join us for a virtual session with Dr. Phillip Huff. Dr. Huff is the Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Bastazo where he leads research and development, applying artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to deliver innovative cybersecurity solutions that empower organizations to proactively defend their critical infrastructure.

As cyber defense grows increasingly more complex, articicial intelligence now plays a practical role in tracking assets, vulnerabilities, and threats at scale. This session oulines the AI tools in use at UA Little Rock, showing how analysts and students apply them to optimize defense strategy. Dr. Huff will also preview prototypes being built for the cybersecurity clinics, which will turn raw data into clear, actionable guidance for the organizations they serve.

WHEN: August 8, 2025, 11 am - 12 pm CDT

WHERE: Virtual

August 14-15, 2025, Forge Institute | 2-Day Cyber-Informed Engineering Workshop

Join us for an Intensive Industrial Cybersecurity Training focusing on Foundational Modules for Cyber-Informed Engineers. These modules are part of a larger objective with our collaboration partners, the University of Arkansas, UALR, and Bastazo, to establish a stackable certification program called Cyber-Informed Engineering. You will master practical, hands-on skills to defend critical infrastructure against cyber threats in:

• PLC Programming : Master PLC programming essentials: components, functions, languages, and ladder logic.

• Critical Function Analysis: Identify critical system functions, their dependencies, and related vulnerabilities using Cyber-Informed Engineering.

• Cyber Consequence Analysis: Evaluate cyber event consequences to define, classify, and prioritize the protection of critical functions.

WHEN: August 14-15, 2025

WHERE: Little Rock, Arkansas

WHY: Traditional engineering is no longer enough to defend against escalating cyber threats to critical infrastructure, which are occurring about 13 times every second. Ransomware impacted nearly 1 in 4 reported breaches at critical infrastructure organizations, and known OT/ICS vulnerabilities surged by 70% in early 2024.

This training instills the vital Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) mindset, integrating robust cybersecurity into system design and operation from the outset. This U.S. Department of Energy-funded initiative is essential for building resilience and protecting our nation's critical services.

July 8, 2025 Igniting Ingenuity: Lab Insights with Amanda Belloff

Event Details

• Date: July 8, 2025

• Time: 11 am - 12 pm CDT

• Location: Virtual

• Learn More at: Eventbrite

  Cyber Enabled Sabotage and Critical Function Assurance examines the current threat environment through the lens of cyber-enabled sabotage and introduces the importance of understanding how critical functions are delivered to focus and prioritize engineering and cybersecurity efforts to ensure safe/reliable operations even in the face of determine and skilled adversary.

  Presented by Amanda Belloff, Program Manager at Idaho National Labs.