17837_Authority_Oct

municipalauthorities.org | 59 • Dragos Academy: provides on-demand training and education for OT cyber and Dragos Platform use. • OT-CERT (see below). By joining the Community Defense Program, water and wastewater utilities have access to the same technology and services that large industrial organizations are using for resilience of their own infrastructure – for free . In addition, CDP participants become part of a dedicated community so that they are not alone in this intimidating cyber threat environment. Monthly “jump start” sessions bring together CDP participants, Dragos experts, and volunteer community advisors from experienced Dragos customers. The jump start sessions are used to teach CDP members how to use the Dragos Platform, inform them about the latest cyber threat activity, and ask questions and share information among members. The jump start sessions have helped to build a vibrant CDP community in which members learn from Dragos experts, customers, and each other. Each month the community grows stronger as we join forces to defend against adversaries. Register for the Community Defense Program at https://www.dragos.com/community/community-defense- program/registration/ Operational Technology – Cyber Emergency Readiness Team (OT-CERT) Dragos OT-CERT is dedicated to addressing the OT resource gap that exists in industrial infrastructure. The gap is especially critical among small and medium-sized businesses like water/wastewater utilities that often have limited in-house cybersecurity expertise and lack the financial and technical resources to address ICS/OT cybersecurity risks. Designed to support asset owners and operators of industrial infrastructure, Dragos OT-CERT provides free cybersecurity resources for the Industrial Control System (ICS) /OT community. Members have free access to almost 50 OT cybersecurity resources, including best practices, toolkits, templates, how- to demonstration videos, training, tabletop exercises, webinars, and more. New resources are released on an ongoing basis. Regulations and standards establish ‘what’ small and medium-sized organizations should do to secure their OT environments, but OT-CERT takes it a step farther by providing the tools needed - the ‘how’ to do it. OT-CERT members also meet monthly in interactive working sessions in which they have an opportunity to hear from Dragos experts on the latest OT-CERT resources, current threats, and to share lessons learned and tips and tricks with each other. OT-CERT has more than 2,000 members in 64 countries – don’t delay! Apply for free membership at www.dragos.com/community/ot- cert/registration/ Final Thoughts Water and wastewater organizations are facing cyber threats they never expected to face. Unfortunately putting your heads in the sand and hoping they will pass you by is not a good plan and could put you in the headlines like other utilities since November 2023. Worse yet, you would be putting your customers at risk. But there is hope: the free resources provided by Dragos and the communities Dragos has built around them – the Community Defense Program and OT-CERT. Join us so we can help safeguard civilization by helping you! S Defense is doable and together we can safeguard civilization.