Critical Infrastructure: The Risk Hiding in Plain Sight - Jason Manar - CSP #225

Why It Matters

Because SMEs and MSPs underpin over 90% of the economy and now face intensified, state-linked attacks, failures in their security can cascade into major disruptions across multiple critical sectors; improving threat intelligence sharing and vulnerability management is therefore vital to national resilience.

Summary

Jason Manar, an ex-FBI cyber supervisor now CISO at Cassa, warned that small and midsize businesses and MSPs form a large, often-overlooked part of critical infrastructure across sectors from healthcare to water and finance. He said nation-state actors—including Iran-linked groups—have increasingly targeted critical infrastructure since 2023–26, exploiting known vulnerabilities and accelerating attacks with emerging technologies. Manar urged organizations to treat supply-chain dependencies seriously, share threat intelligence with regulators and providers, and harden systems against both known and novel exploits. He emphasized MSPs’ broad footprint and the need for coordinated defenses and timely visibility into evolving threats.

Original Description

In this episode, former FBI cyber leader Jason Manar joins us to unpack the state of critical infrastructure security and why small and medium-sized businesses are more connected to it than they realize. From power, telecom, healthcare, finance, and supply chains, Jason explains how hidden dependencies can turn “not our problem” into a business-stopping event.

With his FBI perspective and CISO experience, Jason shares what organizations should understand about risk, resilience, and protecting the systems we all quietly rely on.

Show Notes: https://cisostoriespodcast.com/csp-225

00:00 Introduction to Jason Minar and His Background

03:04 Understanding Critical Infrastructure Security

06:32 Challenges for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

10:12 The Evolution of Cyber Threats

15:08 AI's Impact on Cybersecurity

17:56 Building Resilience in Organizations

20:05 Lessons from the FBI: A Case Study

24:54 Advice for Future Generations