By Jia Lissa 
In a major development for the resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure, Accenture, Dragos, and the SANS Institute announced on Tuesday the formation of the Community Cyber Resilience Foundation. This new collaborative initiative is designed to provide critical, under-resourced water, electric, and natural gas utilities across the United States with the necessary tools, expertise, and support to harden their operational technology (OT) environments against an escalating tide of cyber threats.
The launch of the foundation is backed by an initial commitment of approximately $10 million, a substantial investment comprising both direct funding and the provision of essential professional services. The initiative aims to address a long-standing vulnerability in the American energy and utility landscape: the widening gap between the sophisticated tactics employed by state-sponsored and criminal cyber adversaries and the defensive capabilities of smaller, local utility providers.
Bridging the Security Gap for Small Utilities
The foundation’s inaugural phase is ambitious in scope, targeting up to 500 utility providers. Participants selected for this program will receive a comprehensive suite of security assets, including free access to high-end security tools, the necessary hardware to host those tools, expert assistance with deployment, and specialized training for internal staff.
To ensure the resources reach those most in need, the foundation has established specific eligibility criteria. Any water, wastewater, electric, or natural gas utility based in the United States that generates less than $100 million in annual revenue qualifies for participation. While this revenue threshold might seem high in some sectors, in the context of utility management, it identifies an enormous segment of the market. According to the foundational partners, this threshold covers more than 50,000 organizations, representing over 97% of all utility providers across the country.
The operational model of the foundation leverages the unique strengths of each founding partner. Each participating utility will be granted access to the Dragos Platform—a leading technology for OT asset identification, vulnerability management, and threat detection. Recognizing that technology alone is insufficient without proper implementation, Accenture will oversee the end-to-end setup, system integration, and provide ongoing technical support. Meanwhile, the SANS Institute—a global leader in cybersecurity training—will spearhead the educational component, equipping utility staff with the skills necessary to manage ICS (Industrial Control Systems) and OT security defenses internally.
Beyond software and training, the foundation will also cover the costs associated with the hardware required to deploy and run the Dragos Platform. Furthermore, the initiative seeks to create a lasting community of practice by connecting participants to a peer network, allowing utility operators to share operational experiences, threat intelligence, and best practices in a secure environment.
The Growing Threat to Critical Infrastructure
The urgency behind this initiative stems from a grim reality: the nation’s life-sustaining services are increasingly under fire. Small utilities, which often serve rural or underserved communities, are frequently the most vulnerable. They typically operate under significant constraints, including limited capital budgets, acute workforce shortages, and a reliance on aging technology that was never designed with modern cybersecurity threats in mind.
These vulnerabilities have not gone unnoticed by malicious actors. Recent reports have highlighted a sharp uptick in aggressive targeting, including a series of cyberattacks that hit more than 100 water systems across over a dozen states in July alone. These incidents serve as a stark reminder that the digital perimeter of a small municipal water treatment plant is just as important to national security as the systems protecting major metropolitan energy grids.
Robert M. Lee, CEO of Dragos, emphasized the asymmetry of the current threat landscape during the announcement. "Adversaries are aggressively targeting utilities, attacking the operational environments that provide life-sustaining services to millions of Americans," Lee stated. "Yet many small operators lack the capacity to defend against these threats." The foundation is intended to be a direct intervention to correct that imbalance, providing the "capacity" that Lee notes is currently missing from the small-utility sector.
Building on Existing Foundations
This new foundation is not an isolated experiment but rather a significant expansion of existing efforts. It builds directly upon the success of the Dragos Community Defense Program, which was launched in December 2023. That program was the first to offer over 100 utilities with less than $100 million in annual revenue free access to the Dragos Platform. The positive reception and proven impact of that initial program provided the momentum and data necessary to scale the effort into the new, more robust foundation announced this week.
The announcement also arrives at a time of significant corporate movement within the cybersecurity sector. Just four months ago, Accenture agreed to acquire a majority stake in Dragos, a move that was part of a broader, high-stakes push into the OT cybersecurity market, valued at approximately $4.1 billion. This acquisition highlights the increasing convergence of IT and OT security, as major consulting firms look to secure the digital backbone of the global economy. By folding these efforts into a dedicated foundation, the partners are signaling a long-term commitment to the social responsibility aspect of critical infrastructure security.
A Shifting Landscape of Risk
The launch of the Community Cyber Resilience Foundation coincides with a series of alarming reports concerning the state of industrial security. The landscape is becoming increasingly complex, with new vulnerabilities emerging in common industrial software and hardware. For instance, recent reports have detailed how a vulnerability in the Siemens Software Center was exploited in sophisticated ClickFix malware attacks, and how security breaches in supermarket refrigeration systems were successfully widened to include Copeland and Dixell controllers.
Moreover, the rise of artificial intelligence is changing the game for both defenders and attackers. Recent research from Booz Allen Hamilton indicated that AI agents are now capable of navigating unfamiliar OT systems and manipulating equipment within minutes, underscoring the need for faster, more intelligent, and more accessible defensive tools. For small utilities that lack 24/7 security operations centers, the ability to rapidly detect and respond to such automated threats is a critical requirement for continued safe operation.
By providing small utilities with the tools, hardware, and training they need to defend their environments, the foundation aims to raise the "baseline of security" across the entire US utility sector. The ultimate goal is to create a resilient ecosystem where even the smallest provider has the visibility and expertise required to detect an intruder before a service disruption occurs.
As the digital and physical worlds continue to blur within the utility sector, the reliance on, and the risk to, operational technology will only increase. The collaborative effort between Accenture, Dragos, and the SANS Institute represents a proactive attempt to ensure that the nation’s infrastructure remains stable, secure, and capable of weathering the threats of the 21st century. Through this $10 million investment, the foundation is attempting to turn the tide, ensuring that the critical services relied upon by every American are protected by more than just luck or outdated defenses.
Nana Muazin 
Ali Ikhwan 
Nana Wu