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Last week, DEF CON Franklin and the National Rural Water Association (@NRWA) launched the Water Watch Center: round-the-clock cyber monitoring for the small water utilities that serve most of America.
Here's how the week went. 🧵
#CyberCivilDefense #Take9 #WaterWatchCenter
prnewswire.com/news-releases…
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Last week, DEF CON Franklin joined the National Rural Water Association (@NRWA) at the WaterPro Conference in Phoenix to roll out the Water Watch Center and begin signing up utilities for the program’s pilot.
Franklin Program Director Paul Chang spoke with water leaders about the growing cyber threat facing small and rural utilities—and how we can help address it.
The Water Watch Center provides completely free cybersecurity support to NRWA-affiliated systems and has already helped utilities across eight states. Now, we're piloting a Managed Security Service Provider model to provide ongoing monitoring, with a growing focus on utilities serving data centers.
The goal is simple: build a network of defense that reaches the most vulnerable parts of our water infrastructure—and scale it nationwide.
#CyberCivilDefense #Take9 #WaterWatchCenter
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DEF CON Franklin retweeted
Jake Braun, executive director of the Cyber Policy Initiative, joined Project Watershed 250 to share lessons from the Water Watch Center. As Texas works becomes the national standard for defending water systems, WWC stands with them against cyber criminals.
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Congratulations to @ONCD, Chief TJ White, @GregAbbott_TX, and the State of Texas on the launch of Project Watershed 250, and on the great strides they're making on one of the most important national security issues of our time.
Honored to speak at the Project Watershed 250 working group session and share lessons learned from our work at the Water Watch Center. Texas was selected to set the national standard for defending water systems, and we're glad to ensure the Lone Star State does not fight this battle alone as the WWC stands with them to make demonstrable progress defending against the cyber criminals and nation state adversaries preying on our water systems.
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DEF CON Franklin retweeted
Recent cyberattacks targeting water systems in multiple U.S. states have raised questions about the security of drinking water infrastructure. Water utilities must prepare for physical and digital threats. Read our latest blog to learn more.
news.awwa.org/45vCPoz
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Texas runs thousands of water utilities. @TXCyberCommand is working with the Water Watch Center to help protect them.
ALT Quote card from Texas Cyber Command: “Securing Texas water utilities is one of the most important cybersecurity challenges facing our state. Texas Cyber Command is excited to work with the Water Watch Center team to advance innovative, scalable cybersecurity solutions that will help strengthen and protect the thousands of water utilities serving Texans every day.”
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DEF CON Franklin retweeted
After the recent multi-state cyber attacks on water, this piece from @NPR sums it up nicely. "Technology helps some operators monitor their systems remotely and become more efficient, but it can expose insecure devices to bad actors a world away." This is why organizations like @DefConFranklin and @NRWA are launching efforts to give small utilities more immediate support.
#CyberCivilDefense #Take9 #WaterWatchCenter
Read more👇
npr.org/2026/08/12/nx-s1-592…
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DEF CON Franklin retweeted
“You have more cybersecurity regulations for your credit card and your wallet than you do for the water systems that support our country,” IST's @joshcorman told @whyy yesterday, joining the program to break down recent cyberattacks on water utilities.
➡️ Listen now: whyy.org/episodes/how-can-we…
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Last week, DEF CON Franklin and the National Rural Water Association (@NRWA) launched the Water Watch Center: round-the-clock cyber monitoring for the small water utilities that serve most of America.
Here's how the week went. 🧵
#CyberCivilDefense #Take9 #WaterWatchCenter
prnewswire.com/news-releases…
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Run a small water or wastewater utility? The Water Watch Center is open.
Start here: defconfranklin.com
Press: DEFCONFranklinPress@boogaardstrategicconsulting.com
#CyberCivilDefense #Take9 #WaterWatchCenter
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This didn't start last week. Cybersecurity Dive and The Register covered what two years of volunteer work produced, including the 21 small utilities Franklin has already served.
cybersecuritydive.com/news/w…
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The trade press dug into the model: five vetted MDR providers, threat data shared through NRWA as the hub, and Franklin volunteers on call to fix what the sensors find.
therecord.media/iran-cyberat…
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The @BBCNews asked what the hackers are really after. Jake's answer: public trust in government.
bbc.com/news/articles/c934dq…
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He also joined Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room on @CNN to talk about the threat to small water systems and the response taking shape.
piped.video/watch?v=QGD_qAzD…
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Jake Braun joined @NPR to explain what the center gives a utility with two or three staff and no security team of its own.
npr.org/2026/08/12/nx-s1-592…
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@kevincollier broke the story at @NBCNews: the water industry is turning to AI and hackers for help amid suspected Iranian cyberattacks.
nbcnews.com/tech/security/wa…
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There is no such thing as being "too small to be a target" anymore. Hear @CLTCBerkeley's Ann Cleaveland discuss the challenges facing "target-rich, resource-poor" local governments and small critical infrastructure, and the growing networks of cyber defenders stepping up to protect them on KQED Forum.
The difference between a contained incident and a widespread emergency is the work happening right now to close these gaps. This is why Franklin and others are collaborating on the #WaterWatchCenter #CyberCivilDefense #Take9
🎧Listen here: kqed.org/forum/2010101914860…
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Looking forward to partnering with @vunatsecurity to scale real cybersecurity for critical water and wastewater infrastructure. Thank you, Gen. Nakasone, for your support.
#CyberCivilDefense #Take9 #WaterWatchCenter
DEF CON continuously reminds us cyber is deeply connected to national security.
At @defcon 34, General Paul M. Nakasone (Ret.) joined DEF CON founder @thedarktangent, for a fireside on the future of cyber defense, the rise of AI, and the urgent need to protect the infrastructure people depend on every day.
Recent cyberattacks on U.S. water systems have made clear that threats to critical infrastructure are happening. The newly announced @DefConFranklin @UofCCyberPolicy partnership is one example of how the cyber community is working to help small and rural water utilities strengthen their defenses.
For @VanderbiltU students, DEF CON offered something that is different: direct exposure to the people, problems, and ideas shaping the field. Students met Dark Tangent, engaged with practitioners, and saw firsthand how fast the cyber landscape is changing.
At Vanderbilt's Institute of National Security, these kinds of experiences are preparing the next generation of leaders for the security challenges ahead.
#DEFCON34 #Cybersecurity #NationalSecurity #CriticalInfrastructure #AI #Vanderbilt #InfoSec
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DEF CON Franklin retweeted
DEF CON continuously reminds us cyber is deeply connected to national security.
At @defcon 34, General Paul M. Nakasone (Ret.) joined DEF CON founder @thedarktangent, for a fireside on the future of cyber defense, the rise of AI, and the urgent need to protect the infrastructure people depend on every day.
Recent cyberattacks on U.S. water systems have made clear that threats to critical infrastructure are happening. The newly announced @DefConFranklin @UofCCyberPolicy partnership is one example of how the cyber community is working to help small and rural water utilities strengthen their defenses.
For @VanderbiltU students, DEF CON offered something that is different: direct exposure to the people, problems, and ideas shaping the field. Students met Dark Tangent, engaged with practitioners, and saw firsthand how fast the cyber landscape is changing.
At Vanderbilt's Institute of National Security, these kinds of experiences are preparing the next generation of leaders for the security challenges ahead.
#DEFCON34 #Cybersecurity #NationalSecurity #CriticalInfrastructure #AI #Vanderbilt #InfoSec
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Thanks to @NPR @JennaMC_Laugh for this feature today on Franklin amidst the recent attacks on water systems nationwide.
As Jenna notes, "Technology helps some operators monitor their systems remotely and become more efficient, but it can expose insecure devices to bad actors a world away."
This is why we're "launching a new project called the Water Watch Center to give small utilities more support." @NRWA
#CyberCivilDefense #Take9
Read more👇
npr.org/2026/08/12/nx-s1-592…
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