Xylem and Dragos’ collaboration to bring cybersecurity to water utilities

The partnership will also deliver both proactive threat hunting in addition to rapid response, increasing uptime and operational certainty.

Xylem, the water technology company and Dragos, the cybersecurity company for industrial controls systems (ICS) jointly introduce industrial cybersecurity infrastructure for water utilities.

The agreement will see Xylem and Dragos offering co-branded incident response and incident prevention services to Xylem’s water utility customers worldwide. The partnership brings water utilities the most experienced teams of digital water experts and industrial cybersecurity practitioners.

“We’re enthusiastic about bringing to water operators the combination of Xylem’s leadership in digital transformation, and Dragos’ world-class expertise in securing critical infrastructure,” said Nick Nedostup, Xylem’s chief information security officer. “Modernising water infrastructure with digital technology delivers dramatic benefits – lowering costs and reducing both energy and emissions while also making communities more resilient in the face of climate change. And because water is so essential, water infrastructure deserves the very best security against cyber threats,” they continued.

Troy Roberts, vice president of worldwide sales, Dragos Inc. said, “Achieving strong industrial cybersecurity in the water sector requires the whole-of-network view across water systems that our partnership with Xylem will bring to water utility customers worldwide. Dragos and Xylem share a commitment to enhancing the safety, availability, and resiliency of critical infrastructure in water and Xylem’s breadth and leadership in digital water solutions make them a natural partner to solve these customer challenges in water utilities worldwide.”

The Xylem-Dragos Incident Response Service builds on Xylem’s robust product security framework, and works in conjunction with utilities’ existing security systems, providing an extra layer of protection. The partnership will also deliver both proactive threat hunting in addition to rapid response, increasing uptime and operational certainty. The service, available on a retainer basis, hardens industrial control systems to prevent incidents, rapidly responds to industrial intrusions, and reduces mean time to recovery.