In its first phase, the foundation will offer cybersecurity software, hardware, deployment services and SANS training at no cost to up to 500 utilities. The three founders are making an initial combined commitment of about $10 million in funding and services, and the data company Elastic is also supporting the effort. Accenture, the industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos and the SANS Institute have launched the Community Cyber Resilience Foundation.
It is a non-profit organisation which will offer small and under-resourced US water, electric and natural gas utilities free help securing their operational technology.
The first phase of the initiative will support up to 500 utilities serving communities across the United States, according to the announcement. The partners said the combined investment of roughly $10 million will help strengthen services relied upon by more than 100 million Americans. The foundation builds on the Dragos Community Defense Program, which already gives more than 100 utilities free access to the Dragos Platform.
The three organisations announced the creation of the Community Cyber Resilience Foundation, a nonprofit initiative designed to provide operational technology (OT) cybersecurity tools, deployment services, hardware support and training at no cost to eligible utilities. The foundation was announced at a roundtable on utility cybersecurity in Ohio hosted by Ohio Power Company, an American Electric Power subsidiary, together with Accenture and Dragos. The programme targets smaller and under-resourced providers that often lack the funding and workforce needed to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. Dragos was founded by Robert M. Lee, who is its chairman and CEO. Elastic’s role is technical: its Elasticsearch technology provides the main log storage and search engine inside the Dragos Platform, which helps Dragos deliver the software at scale.