The National Rural Water Association (NRWA) has announced a new initiative, the Water Watch Center (WWC), aimed at bolstering the cybersecurity defenses of small, often underfunded, water and wastewater systems across the United States. This program is a collaborative effort with DEF CON Franklin, an organization that emerged two years ago from veterans of the DEF CON security conference, and several cybersecurity firms.
The WWC will provide direct support and threat intelligence to water utilities serving fewer than 10,000 people. There are over 50,000 community water systems in the U.S., with 91% of them falling into this category. The program's launch comes amid a reported surge in cyberattacks targeting operational technology at water utilities in at least 12 states, with recent incidents reported in Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia, South Dakota, and two towns in New Jersey. These attacks are allegedly linked to Iranian state-sponsored actors, specifically the Iranian Red Guard.
Five managed detection and response providers—Rapid7, Defendify, Legato Security, L1 Secure, and Sentinel Technologies—will partner with DEF CON Franklin and the NRWA. These companies will share threat information and vulnerability patch data, with the NRWA acting as a central hub. Jake Braun, co-founder of DEF CON Franklin and a former cyber official in the Biden administration, stated that this collaboration aims to create a scalable cyber delivery model that has previously eluded the water industry and national security officials. He emphasized that DEF CON Franklin's 450 volunteers will help keep costs down for these utilities, which are fending off sophisticated adversaries.
DEF CON Franklin has a track record of pairing its volunteer cybersecurity experts with water and wastewater utilities in states such as Arizona, Indiana, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming. While successful, these efforts highlighted the challenge of scaling cybersecurity services to the country's approximately 150,000 water and wastewater utilities, which include community systems and 100,000 public water systems serving schools, factories, office buildings, and hospitals, as well as thousands of systems for temporary populations.
The WWC has already begun work in Maryland, focusing on identifying rural water utilities that require assistance, particularly those supporting military facilities. Matthew Holmes, CEO of NRWA, underscored the increasing cybersecurity risks faced by water systems and the WWC's role in providing trusted resources to secure national water infrastructure.
In addition to direct support, officials behind the WWC are collaborating with Vanderbilt University and the U.S. military to develop digital replicas of water and wastewater system environments. These "digital twins" will allow experts to test and refine automated defensive strategies.
Historically, organizations like the NRWA have expressed concerns about federal government efforts to institute cybersecurity regulations, arguing that such mandates could lead to increased costs for customers. This has prompted some states, including New York, to combine water cybersecurity regulations with grant programs designed to fund the necessary defensive systems.
