Government officials need to recognize the importance of control system cybersecurity
My colleague, Vytautas Butrimas, is retiring after a long and distinguished career. His retirement letter stated the following:
“I have decided that it is time to celebrate my jubilee birthday and to mark the end of my career. To do this I have written a professional memoir covering the years 1993-2023 when I worked for two ministries of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania heavily engaged in preparations for joining NATO and the EU in 2004 and of my fruitful collaborations with those and other organizations (such as ISA) afterwards. I hope the book will act as a meeting point for all of us in Lithuania and elsewhere who worked as a team to do some wonderful things in the technology, security and defense policy areas. Although many of us who were there may now feel forgotten, our work at the time was considered very important. The record is there for them to remember as well.”
I am writing this blog both in admiration for Vytautas’ work but also to demonstrate that government leaders like Vytautas and former U.S. Congressman James Langevin, neither of whom is an engineer, can become leaders in supporting the need for control system, not just network IT and OT, cybersecurity.
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When I first met Vytautas many years ago, he was in the Lithuanian Defense Ministry. He was actively involved in NATO security meetings including cybersecurity. Vytautas was aware of IT cybersecurity but not control system cybersecurity. Vytautas was not an engineer but was very sharp, open-minded and willing to listen.
After understanding the differences between IT and control system cybersecurity, Vytautas has become one of the leading ambassadors for control system cybersecurity and willing to critique other international and U.S. government documents that continue to look at cybersecurity only through “IT glasses”.
It is a shame the list of government leaders who support the unique issues with control system cybersecurity globally is so small. I wish I could be in Vilnius, Lithuania for Vytautas’ book opening, but wish Vytautas the best of luck. And I hope his book receives the wide and close reading it surely deserves.
