Fred Christie, Chief Information Officer for Maryland public power utility Easton Utilities, completed the 2024 Cohort of the US Department of Energy Operational Technology Defender Fellowship, a highly selective program sponsored by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response.
The OT Defender Fellowship was founded by the Department of Energy in 2021 to facilitate coordination, education and information sharing between U.S. government personnel and cybersecurity professionals protecting our US critical infrastructure from our nation-state adversaries.
Christie was one of 15 cybersecurity leaders across the US participating as members of the 2024 OT Defender Cohort and has now transitioned into the OT Defender Alumni program which has 50 members.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as w interacted with many US government branches and agencies including the White House, FBI, NSA, CISA, TSA as well as the DOE. The knowledge gained and the relationships I developed with my cohort colleagues are priceless and life-long,” says Christie. “We have and will continue to work together as a cohort to protect our US energy infrastructure from cyber threats.”
The OT Defender program is designed to give senior-level Operations Technology cybersecurity managers in the energy sector the opportunity to learn about the strategies used to target our energy infrastructure, and the cybersecurity tools and tactics the U.S. government is using to counter them. "Because cybersecurity managers play such a decisive role in defending the energy sector against cyberattacks and physical security breaches, developing and honing their skills is crucial to protecting our national security," the utility noted.
During the fellowship, participants gained a better understanding of the threats against critical infrastructure and learned about capabilities for detection of, defense against, and recovery from cyberattacks. They left the program equipped with actionable information, insight, and connections to apply in their roles post-fellowship.
The OT Defender program is hosted by the Idaho National Laboratory and funded by the Department of Energy. For more information, visit otdefender.inl.gov.
Easton Utilities is a community-owned, not-for-profit utility and telecommunications company operating the Electric, Natural Gas, Water, Wastewater, Cable Television, and Internet services for the Town of Easton and portions of the surrounding area.
