Accenture, Dragos and SANS launch $10 million nonprofit to secure 500 US utilities

Accenture, Dragos and the SANS Institute announced the formation of the Community Cyber Resilience Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at bolstering operational-technology security for smaller US utilities. The foundation’s first phase will serve up to 500 water, wastewater, electric and natural-gas providers that earn under $100 million annually, delivering the Dragos Platform, Accenture’s integration services, SANS training, and hardware funding free of charge.

The partners have pledged about $10 million in combined funding and services, while Elastic contributes its Elasticsearch engine to enable large-scale log storage and search. The program builds on Dragos’s existing Community Defense Program, which already supports more than 100 utilities. The launch took place at an Ohio roundtable hosted by Ohio Power Company, a subsidiary of American Electric Power. Executives highlighted the growing threat to critical infrastructure and the need for smaller operators to access advanced cybersecurity resources.