‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help
White House launches Watershed 250, a six-month Texas pilot using volunteer vendor cyber and AI tools to harden water utility defenses.
The Office of the National Cyber Director and Texas Cyber Command will oversee the six-month Project Watershed 250 pilot to improve water sector cybersecurity through industry-donated red teaming, system hardening and AI tooling. Twelve companies including Microsoft, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, AWS, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Forescout, Abnormal AI and Dragos participated in the rollout. Officials cited recent attacks including an Iranian-backed campaign against 30 water systems in 12 states and a 2024 incident in Muleshoe, Texas. Some water-security professionals criticized the program as lacking dedicated funding.
- Six-month pilot overseen by ONCD and Texas Cyber Command in Texas.
- A dozen vendors contribute red teaming, hardening and AI-based tooling.
- Motivated by Iranian-linked attacks on 30 water systems across 12 states.
- Contrasts with Biden-era EPA audit rule withdrawn after state lawsuits.
- Scale-up of proven solutions nationally is planned after lessons learned.
From the original article
4 min read at cyberscoop.com
The six-month program will be overseen by the Office of the National Cyber Director and Texas Cyber Command to “find out what works.” HOUSTON, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 17: Houston Water Director, Greg Eyerly, leads a tour of The East Water Purification Plant on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025 in Houston.
By @timstarks · cyberscoop.com
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