Some of you have asked where my weekly article went in November and December. The answer is I had to focus my writing time on edits and production of my new book, A Year In OT Security. 1,500 softcover books are now being printed and will be put in the S4x25 Swag Bags. It will be available in Kindle and softcover formats on Amazon after S4 week.
It’s a weekly topic and task plan that takes you from the week of S4x25 to the week of S4x26. There are a small number of S4 specific tasks at the beginning and end, and these weeks have alternate tasks for those who are not going to S4.
Avid readers know I’m a huge fan of calendar books, and it was much easier to write than a full non-fiction book. I’m hoping it is more accessible and helpful in this format. Each week is 1 – 3 pages on a topic and then space for you to complete the assigned task. Of course some weekly topics will resonate more with you than others.
This is my answer to I’m starting an OT security program, what should I do first, second, third, … It varies significantly from the cyber hygiene guidance and other checklists. The book is also written to be achievable in the timeframe. While written for those beginning a program, I believe it will be useful for even the experienced OT security pro and program to check themselves across areas and topics that have been lacking or set aside.
More articles and interviews to come on the book after S4x25.
2025 Content Plan
Every year I look back at the content I produced that year. What had impact? What did I enjoy? What do I want to change for the next year?
ICS Security: Friday News & Notes email
I published the Friday News & Notes 51 out of the 52 weeks (only missed the week after S4x24). The open rates is 48% so subscribers seem to enjoy it. It will continue as is for 2025.
Tuesday’s Weekly Article
I published ~40 weekly articles this year on LinkedIn and dale-peterson.com. I don’t put a lot of faith in the LinkedIn metrics so impact is uncertain. I enjoy thinking about and writing these articles. I’ll continue doing this in 2024 with a target of 50 weekly articles.
Unsolicited Response Podcast / Show
This was the hardest decision. I put the show on hiatus for most of Q4 due to S4x25 taking a lot of time and a harder time getting interested in doing this. There are so many podcasts out there now, and the numbers aren’t great. The average episode gets 1,000 downloads. Downloads not necessarily listened to. It’s a lot of work for that impact, and the invitations, preparation to do a proper interview, and production can be a slog.
After being tempted to put it on hiatus for 2025, I decided instead to scale back and change the format. Each month I’ll put out two shows. One will be an interview that I’ll dig deep into preparation for like I do for the S4 Fireside Chats. The other will be a more free-wheeling discussion with another industry luminary on the hot topics of the month.
The key will be getting people that interest me to interview so there is more joy in doing this. Then, like writing the article, it will matter less how many people are listening.
S4 Videos / S4 Events Youtube Channel
We did better this year in the production of the videos and putting out clips. It’s still a tiny fraction of what we could be doing. This will be the one area I’m looking for me and the team to step up the content quality and quantity in 2025. The raw materials are there, and I hate to see it go to waste, languish unseen.
We have been doing some prep work on the video library in 2024. For example, I can tell you that S4x12 was epic. Ralph’s Stuxnet Deep Dive, Project Basecamp, Eireann doing the first ICS on the Internet talk, and other firsts for major topics.
We are still working on the objectives and metrics for this category. I’ll I can say now is better and more for both the upcoming S4x25 content and the past year content.