Accenture, Dragos and the SANS Institute on Tuesday announced the Community Cyber Resilience Foundation, which aims to help underserved US water, electric and natural gas utilities protect their operational technology (OT) environment.
They are putting up about $10 million to start, which includes funding and services. The first phase will cover up to 500 facilities, which will receive free safety tools, equipment, assistance and training.
To qualify, water, wastewater, electricity or natural gas must be located in the United States and bring in less than $100 million annually. The company estimates that this band covers more than 50,000 organizations, or more than 97% of US facilities.
Each participant receives the Dragos Platform and related services, with Accenture managed configuration, integration and ongoing support. SANS will train public health workers in ICS/OT security so they can conduct their own defenses internally.
The foundation will also fund the hardware needed to deploy and run the Dragos platform. It will connect participants with a friendly network of devices that share the operating experience.
The company says many small utilities struggle with limited funding, workforce shortages and aging technology, especially those serving rural or underserved communities. They also cited recent attacks on more than 100 US water systems across more than a dozen states.
Robert M. Lee, CEO of Dragos, said: “Adversaries are targeting utilities with brutality, attacking the operating environment that provides life-saving services to millions of Americans.
The foundation builds the Dragos community defense project, which gives more than 100 utilities free access to the Dragos platform. Dragos launched that program in December 2023 for US utilities with annual revenues of less than $100 million.
The announcement comes four months after Accenture agreed to buy a majority stake in Dragos. The deal is part of the $4.1 billion OT Internet Security Initiative.
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