Episodes 52
Avg. Duration 37m
Activity Highly Active
Apple Rating 4.8 (25)
Since Aug 2020
Latest Episode May 2026

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Publishing Details

Schedule
Monthly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
54%
Hosting
feeds.simplecast.com

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About This Podcast

Electricity. Finance. Transportation. Our water supply. In Hack the Plant, podcast host Bryson Bort looks for answers to the question: Does connecting these systems, and others, to the internet leaves us more vulnerable to attacks by our enemies? We often take these critical infrastructure systems for granted, but they’re all becoming increasingly dependent on the internet to function. From the ransomware threats of Colonial Pipeline to the failure of the Texas power grid, it is clear our interconnectivity is also a significant source of risk. Hack the Plant walks through the world of hackers working on the front lines of cyber security and public safety to protect the systems you rely upon every day. Hack the Plant is brought to you by ICS Village and the Institute for Security and Technology. ICS Village is a nonprofit that equips industry experts and policymakers with the tools to better defend our critical infrastructure. We educate people on critical infrastructure security with hands-on examples, not just nerd stuff. Catch us at an event near you! www.icsvillage.com. The Institute for Security and Technology is a nonprofit think tank with the mission to bridge gaps between technology and policy leaders to help solve these emerging security problems together. Learn more at securityandtechnology.org.

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Recent Episodes

Kindness and Critical Infrastructure: Rethinking OT Security

May 27, 2026 32m

In this bonus episode, Bryson Bort sits down with Andrea Haddad, a leader in technology and infrastructure architecture. Andrea has almost two decades of global experience across infrastructure,…

Cyber-Informed Engineering: Moving Beyond the Firewall

Mar 18, 2026 43m

For the last episode of season 5, host Bryson Bort sat down with Andrew Ohrt, Resilience Director at West Yost Associates. A civil engineer specializing in water infrastructure, Andrew bridges the…

Systems Engineering for Survival: A Physician's Guide to Emergency Management

Feb 17, 2026 30m

Our host Bryson Bort welcomes Dr. Natalie Sullivan, Medical Director of the Emergency Response Medical Group and an emergency medicine physician at a D.C. area hospital. Trained in EMS and disaster…

Bridging the IT/OT Divide in Oil & Gas

Jan 20, 2026 39m

Bryson Bort is joined by Dd Budiharto, Microsoft’s Customer Security Officer for the Oil, Gas, and Energy sectors, to share her experience bridging the IT/OT divide in the energy sector. Drawing on…

AI and the Future of Maritime Cybersecurity

Dec 16, 2025 40m

In this episode, host Bryson Bort sits down with Gary Kessler, retired cybersecurity professor and co-founder and director of the Maritime Hacking Village. As a maritime cybersecurity researcher,…

Creating a Cyber Aware Culture for Local Water Utilities

Sep 09, 2025 27m

Deputy Managing Director at the Cyber Readiness Institute Lessie Skiba joins host Bryson Bort to discuss the CRI’s new program connecting small- and medium-sized water utilities with cyber coaches to…

Local Infrastructure is Critical Infrastructure

Aug 13, 2025 51m

Our host Bryson sits down with Colin Ahern and Kirk Herath, two of the only cybersecurity experts working in Governors’ offices in the United States. Colin was appointed Chief Cyber Officer of the…

Old Systems, New Threats

Jun 10, 2025 31m

Bryson Bort is joined by Jim Montgomery, Director, Industrial Cybersecurity Solutions at TXOne Networks. TXOne provides network-based and endpoint-based products to tackle security vulnerabilities…

The Truth About OT Vulnerabilities

May 13, 2025 33m

Bryson Bort sits down with Adam Robbie, Head of OT Threat Research at Palo Alto Networks, to pull back the curtain on OT threat research. With a background in electrical engineering, Adam’s first job…

Bridging the Cybersecurity Resource Gap

Apr 08, 2025 33m

Bryson Bort welcomes Sarah Powazek, Program Director of Public Interest Cybersecurity at the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity, to discuss the organization’s work providing cybersecurity…

Preparing for Unnatural Disasters

Mar 11, 2025 40m

Welcome to season 5! Our host Bryson Bort sits down with Institute for Security and Technology (IST) Executive in Residence for Public Safety & Security Josh Corman. Josh previously joined us on…

From the Archives

Feb 28, 2025 23m

For the final episode of the season, our host Bryson Bort reflects on four years and forty episodes of Hack the Plan[e]t, and picks a few favorites. Episode 8, DoD and Critical Infrastructure:…

Protecting Critical Infrastructure for Rural Electric Cooperatives

Feb 03, 2025 31m

Bryson is joined by Carter Manucy, Director of Cybersecurity at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to discuss rural electric cooperatives, the importance of collaboration, and the…

Reliability and Risks of the North American Power Grid

Nov 26, 2024 28m

Bryson is joined by Sara Patrick, President and CEO at the Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) to discuss cyber threats, mitigation strategies, and the United States energy infrastructure system.…

Securing Embedded Systems

Sep 25, 2024 31m

In this episode, Bryson sits down with MITRE EMB3D co-founder Niyo Little Thunder Pearson. For nearly 20 years, Niyo has been at the forefront of protecting critical infrastructure systems. He…

The Case For A Cyber Force

Jul 23, 2024 41m

In this episode, Bryson sits down with Mark Montgomery, Senior Director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. For three years, Mark served as Executive Director of the Cyberspace Solarium…

Supporting Ukrainian Electrical Grid Resilience in Wartime

Jun 21, 2024 32m

Joe Marshall is a Senior IoT Security Strategist at Cisco Talos Intelligence Group. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Joe helped coordinate a multinational, multi-company coalition of volunteers…

Preparing for the potential worst day

May 21, 2024 30m

In this episode, Bryson Bort is joined by Paul Shaver, Global OT Security Practice Lead at Mandiant / Google Cloud to discuss the cyber threat landscape. How did Paul’s military background play a…

The ICS Hacker

Apr 23, 2024 33m

Claroty is a cybersecurity company that helps organizations to secure cyber-physical systems across industrial (OT), healthcare (IoMT), and enterprise (IoT) environments: the Extended Internet of…

Securing, Defending, and Bringing Resilience to Infrastructure

Feb 28, 2024 36m

Psymetis creates Operational Technology (OT) security solutions that quickly and prevent electric grid outages and catastrophic infrastructure failures. Psymetis’ Werewolf system provides condition…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Hack the Plant have?

Hack the Plant has published 52 episodes since August 2020, covering topics in Government, Science.

Is Hack the Plant still active?

Hack the Plant is currently highly active with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 37m.

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Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Hack the Plant, including email and social media links.

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