$140K. When you mess up, the lights go out for real. Final episode of TechUpdates Special Series. The most consequential security job almost nobody talks about — defending the systems that keep the country running. Power grids. Water utilities. Petrochemical plants. Pipelines. What you'll hear: • What OT/ICS defenders actually do — segmentation, SCADA patching, PLC defense, plant-engineer coordination • Comp reality — why OT pays 40–60% less than cloud security at the same companies, and the "purpose tax" • The real stakes: Ukraine 2015 grid attack · Triton 2017 (Saudi Arabia) · Oldsmar 2021 · Aliquippa 2023 · Volt Typhoon pre-positioning across U.S. critical infrastructure • A real day — substations at 6 AM, vendors that still ship Windows 7 SCADA, plant managers explaining why your last predecessor retired in 2015 • The two paths in — plant engi ...