Dragos-Led Foundation Offers $10M in OT Cybersecurity Support to Small Utilities
Summary
A new foundation backed by Dragos, Accenture, SANS Institute and Elastic will provide $10 million in OT cybersecurity tools, deployment help, training and support, aiming to onboard 500 small and rural U.S. utilities in its first year.
Key points
- The Community Cyber Resilience Foundation launched in Ohio with an initial $10 million in cash and donated services, and aims to onboard 500 utilities in its first year.
- Dragos said its earlier Community Defense Program onboarded about 100 utilities, while roughly 50,000 utilities nationwide could qualify for assistance.
- Accenture will provide deployment, configuration, integration and ongoing support; SANS Institute will offer training; and Elastic will provide log storage and search capabilities.
- The program addresses barriers identified in the earlier effort, including insufficient hardware and staff skills to install, operate and respond to cybersecurity tools.
- IST's Josh Corman cautioned that tools and training may not be enough for the least-resourced utilities, and pointed to reducing optional connectivity and complexity and using cyber-informed engineering.
- An anonymous OT expert said free installations could also provide Dragos with telemetry to refine products and a potential path to convert some recipients into paying customers.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Launch of the Community Cyber Resilience Foundation, a partnership providing free cybersecurity support to small and rural utilities.
- Impact
- Dragos, Accenture, Sans Institute, and Elastic committed $10 million in cash and services to support one year of work and onboard 500 utilities. The program addresses gaps in cybersecurity tools, hardware, deployment support, and staff training. Dragos said its earlier program had onboarded about 100 utilities, while an estimated 50,000 utilities could qualify.
People
Ashutosh KulkarniElastic CEO; said Elastic would provide log storage and search functions within the Dragos platform.James LyneSans Institute CEO; discussed the free training the foundation will provide.Josh CormanExecutive in residence for public safety and resilience at the Institute for Security and Technology; discussed the operational challenges of using donated cybersecurity tools and alternative approaches for smaller utilities.Julie SweetAccenture CEO and Chair; described the contribution as intended to address the cybersecurity resource gap between large and small utilities.Katherine DiEmidioDragos vice president for public policy and government affairs; discussed the foundation and the cybersecurity needs of smaller utilities.
Vendors
Accenturetechnology security market, and its new backer, consulting giant and global systems integrator Accenture, are teaming up with the Sans Institute training provider and data analytics and search specialistDragosDragos, a pioneer in the operational technology security market, and its new backer, consulting giant and global systems integrator Accenture, are teaming up with the Sans Institute training provider and data analyticsElasticare teaming up with the Sans Institute training provider and data analytics and search specialist Elastic to offer $10 million worth of free OT cybersecurity support to small and rural utilities.SANSand its new backer, consulting giant and global systems integrator Accenture, are teaming up with the Sans Institute training provider and data analytics and search specialist Elastic to offer $10 million worth of free