They Deserve to Be Defended: OT Defense, Transitioning Vets and Weaponized Sneaker Net

Work with Aaron: https://protectitallpod.com/work/ The book: https://protectitallpod.com/book/ This episode: https://protectitallpod.com/ep129/ The OT Security Starter Kit: https://protectitallpod.com/starter-kit/ The small water utility down the road cannot afford a big consultancy, and it still has to be defended. Erin Burns is building a company around that problem.

Erin is an Army veteran with roughly two decades in cyber operations and the founder of EVR:RDY Defensive Operations Group. He and Aaron take on the question every transitioning veteran asks, how do I get into OT, and the problem behind it: automation is closing the entry-level door just as small utilities need defenders most. They get into hiring troubleshooters instead of job reqs, engineering a low-cost data diode, why a tool nobody runs is worse than no tool, the air gap myth, and how Erin's team weaponized sneaker net to get packet capture out of sites that will never allow remote access.

Key takeaway The utilities that cannot afford a big consultancy still have to be defended. If you mandate a standard, fund it, and build the people pipeline the same way you build the product: with problem solvers, hands-on apprenticeship and tools small operators will actually use. A tool nobody uses is worse than no tool.

Chapters

0:00 Cold open 0:25 Intro 0:46 Meet Erin Burns 2:26 The question every transitioning vet asks 3:23 Hard hats and factory floors 5:43 Automation is closing the entry-level door 8:03 Ignore the job req 11:06 A pilot with local water sites 12:17 Automate to lower the noise floor 14:19 No juniors means no seniors 16:36 The operator wearing every hat 17:55 Engineering a low-cost data diode 19:28 Dave's network and the XP box 21:44 School lunches, police cruisers and cyber 26:19 A tool nobody runs 27:11 Why investors hate this model 28:53 The cellular modem nobody questioned 30:51 How many air gaps have you seen? 34:38 The historian under the tablecloth 36:31 What do you do with packet capture? 39:50 The air gap myth 46:04 Two different runbooks 49:50 Who defends the sites that can't pay? 53:57 Where to find Erin and EVR:RDY 55:20 Outro

About the guest Erin Burns is an Army veteran with roughly two decades in cyber operations and defensive work, and the founder of EVR:RDY Defensive Operations Group, a company focused on affordable OT/ICS defense for critical infrastructure operators with limited budgets and resources. He came up through special forces support and early military cyber, became a cyber warrant officer, and by his account spent five years on an Army cyber team defending OT environments, on factory floors and in hard hats. He is now building EVR:RDY around that experience, with a focus on water utilities and other sites that cannot afford commercial tooling.

EVR:RDY: https://evrrdy.com EVR:RDY pilot program: https://evrrdy.com/pilots Erin on LinkedIn: https://ww...