Accenture, Dragos, and the SANS Institute have launched the Community Cyber Resilience Foundation, an initiative designed to strengthen operational technology cybersecurity for under-resourced U.S. water, wastewater, electric, and natural gas utilities. The organizations are making an initial combined commitment of approximately $10 million in funding and services.
In its first phase, the foundation plans to provide cybersecurity software, hardware, deployment services, and SANS training at no cost to as many as 500 eligible utilities. Elastic is also supporting the effort by supplying technology used for log storage and querying inside the Dragos Platform.
The initiative is aimed at smaller utilities that often face limited budgets, workforce shortages, and aging technology even as cyberattacks increasingly target operational environments. The announcement cited a recent surge in attacks against more than 100 U.S. water systems across more than a dozen states.
Eligible participants include U.S.-based water, wastewater, electric, and natural gas utilities with less than $100 million in annual revenue. The organizations said more than 97% of utilities fall below that threshold, representing more than 50,000 organizations that could need additional support.
Participants can receive access to the Dragos Platform, deployment and integration support from Accenture, SANS ICS/OT training, hardware and infrastructure funding, and access to a peer community of participating utilities. The foundation builds on the Dragos Community Defense Program, which already provides more than 100 utilities with free access to the Dragos Platform.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our work with America’s critical infrastructure operators has shown both the gravity of the cyber threats they face and a widening vulnerability gap—between large operators with the resources to invest in cybersecurity and smaller utilities that often lack those means. Together with Dragos and SANS, we will provide under-resourced utilities with the technology, expertise and training they need to better power and protect the communities they serve.”
Julie Sweet, Chair And CEO Of Accenture
“Adversaries are aggressively targeting utilities, attacking the operational environments that provide life-sustaining services to millions of Americans. Yet many small operators lack the capacity to defend against these threats. The Community Cyber Resilience Foundation gives the utilities that need it most access to cybersecurity resources and training at no cost.”
Robert M. Lee, Chairman, CEO And Founder Of Dragos
“The best security technology in the world won’t protect a utility if its staff are not able to use it. The foundation puts training and skills in the hands of the people protecting the water, power, natural gas, and wastewater treatment systems that communities rely on.”
James Lyne, CEO Of SANS
“Strong cybersecurity depends on many technologies working together. Elastic is committed to supporting Dragos in delivering its platform at scale, helping make advanced cybersecurity capabilities accessible to utilities that could not otherwise afford them.”
Ashutosh Kulkarni, CEO Of Elastic
