Cyber Risk Series
Upcoming Events
2nd Transforming Cybersecurity Workshop
Transforming Cybersecurity: Pittsburgh Researchers and Practitioners Convene to Tackle Critical Infrastructure Protection
Tuesday, August 11, 2026 | 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
The University of Pittsburgh will host the 2nd Transforming Cybersecurity Workshop on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, bringing together experts from government, industry, academia, and research institutions for a full day of structured problem-solving at the intersection of cybersecurity technology and policy.
The in-person workshop is hosted by the Cyber Energy Center and Pitt Cyber, and co-organized by Daniel Cole and Erica Owen. It builds on the inaugural August 2025 workshop, a subsequent lunch series, and the Cyber Energy Center's ongoing research programming. Where last year's event focused on mapping the landscape of cybersecurity challenges, this year's workshop is designed to go further: moving from diagnosis to action.
The stakes are high. Critical infrastructure systems — water, energy, and industrial control networks — face growing cyber threats at a moment when the gap between what policy requires and what operators can actually implement remains stubbornly wide. Small and mid-sized utilities often lack the technical capacity, dedicated security staff, and vendor support to respond meaningfully to federal guidance. Meanwhile, demonstrated technologies like intrusion-tolerant SCADA systems have seen limited adoption beyond pilots, not because the technology fails, but because the regulatory and market conditions for scaling them do not yet exist.
The workshop opens with two featured speakers who bring complementary perspectives on the technology-policy interface. Chad Heitzenrater, senior information scientist at RAND, will present his recent research on how advanced AI is poised to reshape the economics of cybersecurity — arguing that AI offers defenders a structural advantage they have historically been unable to capitalize on, but only if the right investments in people, process, and technology are made. Ginger Wright, a leading practitioner in Cyber-Informed Engineering, will speak to the challenges of translating CIE principles into operational practice. CIE represents one of the most promising frameworks for building cyber resilience into infrastructure systems from the design stage forward, but its adoption has lagged despite strong federal endorsement — making it a central case study in the policy-technology gaps this workshop is designed to address.
The afternoon centers on working sessions built around real sector-specific problems. A structured panel drawing on political, economic, social, and technological perspectives will diagnose the most persistent barriers to cybersecurity adoption in the water and wastewater sector. Workshop organizers will then present a concrete proposed solution addressing the diagnosed problem. Participants will break into working groups, evaluating it through the lenses of desirability, feasibility, and viability.
This format reflects a core conviction behind the workshop series: meaningful progress on cybersecurity requires sustained cross-sector collaboration, and the most productive conversations happen when engineers, policymakers, operators, and researchers work through concrete problems together.
The workshop will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the University of Pittsburgh. Please register using the link provided.
There is a $40 registration fee, which is waived for students. If the fee poses a barrier to your participation, please contact us at cyberenergy@pitt.edu, and we will be happy to work with you.
For more information or to be added to the distribution list please contact Tara Rankin.
Cyber Energy Center and Pitt Cyber to Host “Cyber Risk in Context” Luncheon
Almost every day, headlines remind us of the real threats and costs of cyberattacks. In just a three-day span it was reported that “Foreign hackers breached a US nuclear weapons plant via SharePoint flaws” and “Jaguar Land Rover hack cost UK economy an estimated $2.5 billion, report says.
Special thank you to everyone who joined us for our first annual Transforming Cybersecurity Workshop: A multidisciplinary Approach to Risk, Technology and Policy on August 12, 2025.
Building a Broader Cybersecurity Ecosystem
Add cybersecurity to the list of 21st-century expertise and research happening in Pittsburgh. “As the current cybersecurity landscape evolves and grows increasingly complex and costly, the need to bring together experts and stakeholders from across fields could not be greater,” said Erica Owen, Associate Professor in Pitt’s School of Public and International Affairs. “This workshop underscored the value of bringing those perspectives together.”
