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U.S. Launches Texas Pilot to Strengthen Water System Cybersecurity

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Summary

Project Watershed 250 is a six-month Texas pilot bringing federal, state and private-sector expertise to identify water-system weaknesses, test defenses and scale protections. Texas Cyber Command and the Office of the National Cyber Director will oversee it.

Key points

  • The Trump administration launched Project Watershed 250 as a six-month water-sector cybersecurity pilot in Texas.
  • Participating companies are expected to provide red teaming, system hardening and AI tools for water utilities.
  • The initiative aims to identify and fix system weaknesses and scale protections judged effective.
  • Texas Cyber Command and the Office of the National Cyber Director will oversee the pilot.
  • At the launch, Gov. Greg Abbott cited an alleged Iranian-backed cyberattack on 30 water systems across 12 states and a 2024 attack on Muleshoe's water system suspected to involve Russian hackers.

Article Details

Event Type
Launch of Project Watershed 250, a six-month Texas water-sector cybersecurity pilot.
Impact
The pilot brings federal, state, and private-sector expertise together to identify and fix weaknesses, test utility defenses through red teaming, harden systems, and use AI tools to improve resilience across Texas water and wastewater infrastructure. The article cites recent attacks on water systems in multiple states, including an Iranian-backed attack on 30 systems across 12 states and a 2024 attack on the Muleshoe, Texas, water system that was suspected to involve Russian hackers.

People

Greg AbbottTexas governor who said the pilot would be overseen by the Office of the National Cyber Director and Texas Cyber Command, and cited recent attacks on water systems.Sean CairncrossNational Cyber Director who described the pilot and its objectives.

Vendors

Abnormal AIGoogle Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praise the initiative and tout their contributions to it.Amazon Web ServicesA dozen companies — Parsons, Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praiseCloudflare— Parsons, Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praise the initiativeDragosPalo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praise the initiative and tout their contributions to it.ForescoutFortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praise the initiative and tout theirFortinetA dozen companies — Parsons, Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praiseGoogle CloudA dozen companies — Parsons, Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praiseMicrosoftA dozen companies — Parsons, Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praisePalo Alto NetworksA dozen companies — Parsons, Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praiseParsonsA dozen companies — Parsons, Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praiseReflection AIcompanies — Parsons, Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praise theZscalerMicrosoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Amazon Web Services, Reflection AI, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos — appeared at the rollout Monday to praise the initiative and tout

Industries

Water and wastewater“This six-month pilot program is designed to make our water and wastewater critical infrastructure more resilient and resistant to cyber attacks by proactively finding and fixing system weaknesses.”