American Electric Power
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering power to over 5 million customers across 11 states. The company's transmission system covers more than 200,000 square miles of territory - a sprawling attack surface that includes electric transmission networks , energy infrastructure , and digital infrastructure . That's critical infrastructure on a continental scale, which means the threat model spans nation-state actors probing industrial control systems, ransomware targeting operational technology, and supply chain compromises across a massive vendor ecosystem. Founded in 1906, AEP is now executing a $72 billion five-year capital plan , much of it aimed at grid modernization and cleaner energy. That kind of investment scales up both the digital footprint and the security challenge: more connected devices, more networked systems, more attack vectors converging on operational technology and IT alike. The cybersecurity team operating here isn't defending a SaaS product - they're protecting the physical grid, SCADA systems, and the digital infrastructure that keeps electricity flowing to homes and businesses. The operational domain demands fluency in ICS/SCADA security, network segmentation for critical infrastructure, and compliance frameworks like NERC CIP that govern bulk electric system cybersecurity. This is a shop where security work has tangible, physical consequences - where a misconfigured firewall or a delayed patch doesn't just mean data loss, it means potential disruption to millions of people and the broader energy grid.
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering power to over 5 million customers across 11 states. The company's transmission system covers more than 200,000 square miles of territory - a sprawling attack surface that includes electric transmission networks, energy infrastructure, and digital infrastructure. That's critical infrastructure on a continental scale, which means the threat model spans nation-state actors probing industrial control systems, ransomware targeting operational technology, and supply chain compromises across a massive vendor ecosystem.
Founded in 1906, AEP is now executing a $72 billion five-year capital plan, much of it aimed at grid modernization and cleaner energy. That kind of investment scales up both the digital footprint and the security challenge: more connected devices, more networked systems, more attack vectors converging on operational technology and IT alike. The cybersecurity team operating here isn't defending a SaaS product - they're protecting the physical grid, SCADA systems, and the digital infrastructure that keeps electricity flowing to homes and businesses.
The operational domain demands fluency in ICS/SCADA security, network segmentation for critical infrastructure, and compliance frameworks like NERC CIP that govern bulk electric system cybersecurity. This is a shop where security work has tangible, physical consequences - where a misconfigured firewall or a delayed patch doesn't just mean data loss, it means potential disruption to millions of people and the broader energy grid.