Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Most OT environments have them: bypassed interlocks, offline sensors, and "temporary" fixes that become permanent. These workarounds keep processes running but quietly accumulate into maintenance debt - - a backlog of physical and procedural gaps that expand attack surfaces as predictably as unpatched CVEs.
Using real-world examples from field operations and ICS labs, Esther shows how maintenance debt can be modeled, quantified, and directly mapped to ICS-specific attack vectors. It will allow you to treat "broken but running as measurable cyber risk rather than invisible background noise.
Note: Esther was a winner of a Women In ICS Security scholarship at S4x25. It's great to have her back at S4x26 as a speaker.
Subscribe to Dale’s ICS Security: Friday News & Notes email here:
friday.dale-peterson.com/signup
Check out S4x27. Feb 8 - 11 in Tampa:
s4xevents.com
Most OT environments have them: bypassed interlocks, offline sensors, and "temporary" fixes that become permanent. These workarounds keep processes running but quietly accumulate into maintenance debt - - a backlog of physical and procedural gaps that expand attack surfaces as predictably as unpatched CVEs.
Using real-world examples from field operations and ICS labs, Esther shows how maintenance debt can be modeled, quantified, and directly mapped to ICS-specific attack vectors. It will allow you to treat "broken but running as measurable cyber risk rather than invisible background noise.
Note: Esther was a winner of a Women In ICS Security scholarship at S4x25. It's great to have her back at S4x26 as a speaker.
Subscribe to Dale’s ICS Security: Friday News & Notes email here:
friday.dale-peterson.com/signup
Check out S4x27. Feb 8 - 11 in Tampa:
s4xevents.com
