The Global Resilience Federation (GRF) has announced that Siemens Energy’s Leo Simonovich will join its board of directors. Simonovich currently serves as Siemens Energy’s Vice President and Global Head of Industrial Cyber and Digital Security. He leads the company’s industrial cyber security line of work.
Simonovich brings expertise in cyber security of operating technologies (OT) to GRF at a time when many sectors are investing heavily in digitizing physical production processes with information technology systems, an approach often called an industrial Internet of Things (IoT).
Simonovich’s addition to the board is one of several steps that GRF is taking to address the increasing exposure to cyber attacks that accompanies the efficiencies gained through industrial IoT.
“We are delighted to welcome Leo to the board,” said GRF CEO Mark Orsi. “He has long been a thought leader on cyber security resilience, a respected voice in the energy sector, and a driver of innovation for OT security. We are looking forward to his insight as we continue to build and support multi-sector collective defense communities.”
Beyond his instrumental role at Siemens, Simonovich has actively promoted global collaboration on cyber security maturity, most notably as chair of the World Economic Forum’s Oil and Gas Community cyber security working group.
“In my work I see, over and over, the value of mature cyber security by collaborating across industry and across sectors,” said Leo Simonovich. “GRF has been working to answer today's more frequent, more sophisticated cyber threats with equally powerful information-sharing efforts. I want to thank GRF for this opportunity to contribute to building resilient cross-sector communities.”
