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In this episode of The Gate 15 Interview, Andy Jabbour visits with Brian Harrell, Vice President and Chief Security Officer (CSO) at AVANGRID. Brian currently serves as the Vice President and Chief Security Officer (CSO) at AVANGRID, an energy company with assets and operations in 24 states. He is responsible for the company’s cybersecurity, privacy, physical security, threat management, and business continuity.
In 2018, Brian was appointed by the President of the United States to serve as the sixth Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was also the first Assistant Director for Infrastructure Security at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). He has spent time during his career in the US Marine Corps and various private sector agencies with the goal of protecting the United States from security threats. Brian is a Board Member and Strategic Advisor to many great companies.
- Brian on LinkedIn
- Brian on Twitter: @gridsecure
In the discussion we address:
- Brian’s background and path from law enforcement to infrastructure, CISA to AVANGRID
- Information Sharing
- Preparedness and Best Practices
- Evolving threats to energy and infrastructure, including hostile events, insider threats, cyberattacks and nation state threats, 3rd party risk and more
- We talk baseball, burgers, and boating, plus shoutouts to some valued friends and partners, like security expert Jim Rosenbluth and Space ISAC Executive Director, Erin Miller!
A few references mentioned in or relevant to our discussion include:
- AVANGRID. “AVANGRID is a leading sustainable energy company transitioning America toward a clean and connected future headquartered in Orange, CT, and has a footprint in 24 states with $40 billion in assets. Our primary businesses are Avangrid Networks, which serves 3.3 million electric and natural gas customers in the Northeast, and Avangrid Renewables, the third-largest renewable energy company in the U.S. with a diverse onshore and offshore renewable energy portfolio.”
- WSJ Pro Research Survey: Preparedness Results, 29 Nov 2022
- The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) release of the Resilient Power Best Practices for Critical Facilities and Sites. This document supports emergency and continuity managers with guidelines, analysis, background material, and references to increase the resilience of backup and emergency power systems during all durations of power outages. Improving power resilience can help the nation withstand and recover rapidly from deliberate attacks, accidents, natural disasters, as well as unconventional stresses, shocks, and threats to our economy and democratic system.
- The Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC)
- GridEx VII – November 14-15, 2023
- Space ISAC
- DHS CISA on Cyber-Physical Convergence
- Gate 15: Blended Threats (update 1.1): Understanding an Evolving Threat Environment (and numerous other blog posts, papers and exercises)
The Gate 15 Interview is a monthly interview between Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour and guests from throughout the homeland security risk management community addressing a wide range of all-hazards topics and issues. Read more about Gate 15’s full podcast menu at our Podcast page. You can subscribe and enjoy all the Gate 15 Podcasts on Anchor, Apple, Spotify, Google, as well as other locations accessible from the Anchor link. Week-to-week, you can hear and learn more about our all-hazards threats, risks, mitigation and other issues impacting homeland security risk management from our team as well as our regular and special guests. The full podcast menu includes:
- The Risk Roundtable, is a recurring monthly discussion among our team and occasional guests as we explore the all-hazards threats and risks impacting the United States and internationally.
- The Cybersecurity Evangelist, with Jennifer Lyn Walker, is a cybersecurity-focused discussion with Jen and invited guests.
- Nerd Out! Security Panel Discussion, moderated by Dave Pounder, focuses on physical security topics including terrorism, extremism, hostile events, and other pertinent topics.
- The Gate 15 Interview, is a monthly interview between Gate 15’s founder and Managing Director, Andy Jabbour and guests from throughout the homeland security risk management community addressing a wide range of all-hazards topics and issues.
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