OTSEC.IO exists to close the gap between IT-flavored cybersecurity theory and the messy reality of defending plant floors, substations, pipelines, and the systems that keep the lights on.
It started in February 2021 with a five-hour course on OT Cybersecurity Fundamentals, published on Udemy. It resonated — five thousand students enrolled within two years, and the feedback was consistent: more depth, more rigor, more of the practical "how do I actually do this on Monday morning" content.
So in May 2022 I wrote the book. How to be OT Cybersecurity Professional, published by Austin Macauley, is the spine of everything we do now. The training program is the book taken into the classroom, expanded with hands-on exercises and updated as the threat landscape moves.
That's it. No moonshot. Just steadily building the OT cybersecurity resource I wish had existed when I started.
Most OT courses stop at vocabulary. We go from introductory concepts to advanced protocol analysis, so you can read a Wireshark capture from a substation without flinching.
OT threats don't sleep. New material lands as the landscape shifts — new vulnerabilities, new regulations, new patterns of attack.
Foundations first, then advanced techniques. Move at your own pace and re-watch as much as you need — the structure won't let you skip a load-bearing concept.
Eighteen years in operational technology cybersecurity — across IT, IoT, IoMT, and OT. Senior engineer and subject-matter expert, working with the major OT security vendors and delivering field engagements for industrial customers around the world.
Author of How to be OT Cybersecurity Professional (Austin Macauley, 2023). Certified instructor in vendor-specific OT security programs. The training and writing here distills that field experience into something you can apply without needing me on speed-dial.
