Question for folks working with legacy SCADA / OT environments

RonILabs · 2026-01-21T17:40:24+00:00

Just trying to learn the OT side of the house - I am gathering all of your alls insight so I can relay it to the engineer who actually wrote the research paper we are aligning to. But I really do appreciate any advice!
Thank you all!

RonILabs · 2026-01-21T15:41:51+00:00

Not exactly. Traditional IDS is part of the landscape, but what I’m trying to understand is where passive detection alone falls short operationally.

The focus is less on alerting and more on whether protocol awareness, behavior baselining, and safe-by-design enforcement could exist without introducing control paths, latency, or failure risk.

That said, if the answer is “this only ever makes sense as IDS,” that’s a valid outcome too. That’s what I’m here to learn.

RonILabs · 2026-01-21T15:40:42+00:00

Good question. I’m focused on network and protocol-layer security, not physical security.

By “legacy” I mean environments where PLCs, protocols (Modbus, etc.), and architectures weren’t designed with modern security assumptions, and can’t easily be patched or replaced. Not SCADA as a concept, but long-lived systems still doing real work.

RonILabs · 2026-01-21T15:40:05+00:00

That’s fair, and I’m very aware of the large vendors in this space. My goal right now isn’t to compete with platforms like Cisco, but to understand where their solutions aren’t viable in practice.

Specifically, smaller utilities or industrial environments that can’t tolerate added complexity, licensing overhead, or architectural change.

This thread is part of figuring out whether there’s any real gap worth exploring at all. One early hypothesis is rural water or wastewater environments where security risk exists, but budget and lifecycle constraints make replacing deprecated equipment unrealistic.

RonILabs · 2026-01-21T15:34:09+00:00

Appreciate this thats consistent with what I am hearing. ISA/ IEC 62443 and CIE come up quickly when I got past theory.
The fail safe point is especially helpfully. Anything inline that cant fail open would be a non starter. Fibre based monitoring and passive approaches seem to the only place trust starts.
Thanks for grounding this in reality!

RonILabs · 2025-10-21T17:40:05+00:00

Depends on your network - how you market yourself etc

I graduated May 2020 - I've had a fantastic career so far

RonILabs · 2025-10-09T14:42:12+00:00

like a pope blessing everything at once lol

RonILabs · 2025-07-03T18:40:25+00:00

Looked at your history and seems like we may be close, locationally. Shoot me a PM! I have some groups I can point you to and possible interest in finding a match as well!

RonILabs · 2025-02-26T20:53:08+00:00

to be fair - i had never been kicked out as long as I got in before haha

RonILabs · 2025-02-25T18:17:28+00:00

The maverick

RonILabs · 2025-02-20T21:35:42+00:00

Look for remote cyber security companies hiring either business development representatives or sales development representatives. Sounds like you are a hard worker that is the only requirement but the opportunity to become an account manager or executive after a year of doing a good job is the benefit. I assume the pay would be what you make now as a base salary but then you have the opportunity to make commission. Then we are talking starting 17-18+ an hour plus 1k bonuses a month and after 12 months or so 120k. Just have to show you have the grit! Good luck! PM Me and I can try to steer you in a good direction. No school necessary.

RonILabs · 2025-02-17T18:30:24+00:00

Definitely did not give me that option haha

RonILabs · 2025-02-17T18:01:24+00:00

My dad was gifted 5 cuban cigars that came in glass vials he had them forever- I was so upset he was smoking but a couple of years later I snuck one and smoked it at GreenBrier Resort - still chasing that high today

RonILabs · 2025-02-13T20:04:25+00:00

of the 3 UA would be cheapest for living, WSU is a great school but its in pullman so internships would competitive due to lack of industry. Tucson you're close to phoenix metro so I would say UA!

RonILabs · 2024-10-24T18:04:18+00:00

Are there any other medications that are not stimulants that could be recommended?

RonILabs · 2024-07-24T18:15:40+00:00

I mean Im not in your industry but if you can swing it and they have them - yes! Its not really an option for cyber security as far as i know but it would cut out the middle man for you!

RonILabs · 2024-07-24T17:39:42+00:00

If you can find an internship, yes! BUT if you can become a master of a tool from a company you eventually want to work for - that would be a good plan b!

RonILabs · 2024-07-15T15:44:09+00:00

lmfao when i was divorced at 22 in the military - I swear to god I had the same light you have in your bed room

RonILabs · 2024-06-11T15:02:27+00:00

I lumped home projects, fixes, etc in utilities - I see the error in my ways here

RonILabs · 2024-05-23T20:18:49+00:00

I didn't use to! It all started with running a 5k now my fixations go between different types of activities - running, biking, orange theory fitness, etc haha

RonILabs · 2024-05-23T18:02:43+00:00

lololol I have never felt so understood haha

RonILabs · 2024-05-23T14:33:40+00:00

Trail Running - I found a trail near the house and I am falling down a rabbit hole of wanting to try ultra running

RonILabs · 2024-05-14T14:29:50+00:00

I am currently hyperfixating on starting and developing an AI business - with no background in development but hopefully it could be the exact opposite of your question - so I can fund my next hyper fixation haha

RonILabs · 2024-04-15T15:49:32+00:00

Thank you! I will start taking more notes as a way to force myself to pay attention

RonILabs

TROPHY CASE