Defending State & Local Infrastructure: From Water Attacks to Grid Resilience

Recent compromises of municipal water systems, including attacks targeting internet-connected programmable logic controllers and remote cellular modems, have highlighted the evolving cyberthreat landscape facing state and local utilities. Similar risks extend across operational technology environments supporting water, power and other essential public services.

Protecting these systems requires more than securing individual devices or networks. A defense-in-depth approach can help utilities control interactions across converged IT and operational technology environments, limit lateral movement and prevent a compromise in one system from spreading to other mission-critical technology.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify Utility Infrastructure Risks: Examine common attack vectors and lateral movement paths across water, power and related operational technology environments.
• Strengthen IT/OT Defenses: Explore ways to map dependencies, improve visibility and apply OT-safe microsegmentation and Zero Trust controls to sensitive systems.
• Improve Resilience and Compliance: Learn how automated containment can help maintain operations during an incident while supporting alignment with federal cybersecurity guidance and performance goals.