Eric Byres

Background

About Eric Byres

Eric Byres (P.Eng, ISA Fellow) is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost strategic and business development experts in the fields of Operational Technology (OT) security and software supply chain risk management. As Senior Partner at ICS Secure Ltd, he provides technology and market guidance to companies entering the cyber and software supply chain security markets, as well as security policy guidance for established companies and government agencies involved in the operation of critical infrastructures.Eric was formerly a Senior Vice President at Exiger, LLC, a global supply chain risk management company. He joined Exiger in 2024 as a result of the successful acquisition of aDolus Technology Inc, a company he founded and managed since 2017. aDolus provides a SaaS solution for SBOM generation and software supply chain risk detection and has been used by companies such as Caterpillar, Honeywell and Meta.Eric was also the inventor of the industry-leading Tofino Industrial Security Solution and guided this industrial firewall product through its evolution from an academic research project and early-stage startup to the successful acquisition by Belden Inc.(NYSE: BDC) in 2011. Under his guidance, the Tofino product received numerous industry awards and was licensed by industry giants such as Honeywell, Schneider Electric and Caterpillar. Today it is the most widely deployed OT-specific firewall in the world. Eric was also the creator of the Achilles Security Test Platform (now owned by GE) and was the founder of two other successful startups, Byres Research Inc. and Artemis Systems Engineering. Eric is also known for his leadership in research, international standards and best practices for data security in industrial environments. As the founder of the BCIT Critical Infrastructure Security Centre, he shaped it into one of North America's leading academic facilities in the OT cyber security, culminating in a SANS Institute Security Leadership Award in 2006. Some of Eric’s achievements include testifying to the US Congress on the “Security of Industrial Control Systems in National Critical Infrastructures” as well as receiving awards from international organizations. These include the Outstanding Industry Applications Article Prize in September the 2004 “Donald P. Eckman Education Award” and the 2005 “Keith Otto Award” presented by the International Society of Automation (ISA). Eric was made an ISA fellow in 2009 and given the ISA’s highest honor, ISA Excellence in Leadership, in 2013.