2025 ICS Cybersecurity Conference

Meet Software Defined Automation at the ICS Cybersecurity Conference at the InterContinental Buckhead in Atlanta October 27-30.

Join Our Strategy Breakout Session

Securing the Future of Industrial Operations: The Evolving Role of OT Backups in Cyber Resilience
Wednesday, October 29 at 2:50 | Windsor C

Over the past five years, cyberattacks targeting operational technology (OT) in manufacturing environments have grown in both frequency and sophistication. From ransomware crippling production lines to nation-state threats exploiting outdated firmware, the industrial sector has become a prime target. Amid this escalating threat landscape, one critical—yet often overlooked—pillar of cyber resilience is a robust backup strategy for OT systems, particularly programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and other field-level devices.

Join Software Defined Automation’s Jason Silva to explore the fundamental role of backups in OT environments: ensuring business continuity, reducing downtime, and accelerating recovery from both cyber and operational incidents. We will examine the unique challenges of implementing backup solutions in OT, such as limited device access, lack of standardization, and the need to minimize disruption to real-time operations.

The presentation will provide a survey of current industry practices, spanning:

• On-premises solutions, including manual approaches (e.g., technician-led exports or USB-based copies) and software-driven tools managed within the factory network.
• Hybrid models: combining on-site control with off-site storage or orchestration.
• Cloud-based strategies: from custom-built “roll your own” architectures to fully managed SaaS platforms designed for industrial backup and recovery.

Attendees will gain insights into the state of the art in OT backup strategies and practical guidance for enhancing their cyber resilience posture across legacy and modernized infrastructures.

About ICS Cybersecurity Conference

SecurityWeek’s Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Cybersecurity Conference is the largest and longest-running event series focused on industrial cybersecurity. Since 2002, the conference has gathered ICS cyber security stakeholders across various industries and attracts operations and control engineers, IT, government, vendors, and academics.

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