The SANS ICS team is pleased to announce Marty Edwards as this year's recipient of the SANS Michael J. Assante ICS Security Award. Mr. Edwards currently holds a dual-role as Director of Strategic Initiatives at ISA and Managing Director of the Automation Federation (AF) where he continues to work across industry sectors to help raise awareness about cyber risk with the broad industrial automation ecosystem of product and service suppliers, consultants and end-users. His contributions to the field of ICS cybersecurity have helped raise substantial international awareness and attention to security risks across industries that affect critical infrastructures and their respective control systems..
Having started his career in the private sector as a field service technician, then further applying his skills as a control systems engineer, he built a solid foundation in ICS design, installation, operation and maintenance before expanding his scope to include industrial cybersecurity. Edward's diverse roles throughout his career resulted in unique prior experiences as a vendor, end-user, government contractor and US Federal Government employee, most recently having served as Director of US Department of Homeland Security's ICS-CERT.
Edwards continues to be a highly-visible, frequent public speaker, writer and influencer on the topic of ICS security. He often provides thoughtful insights and pragmatic expert opinions that notably affect cybersecurity decisions, standards, and best practices while also helping to guide the public toward meaningful solutions that counteract contemporary risks to industry.