The water keeps flowing because someone is accountable for the risk.
For the leaders who answer to ratepayers, regulators, and a board when a system fails, cybersecurity is not an IT line item. It is operational continuity, public trust, and regulatory defensibility. Direnzic helps you carry that responsibility with confidence.
The Pressure You Are Under
Water systems have moved to the front line of cyber risk.
Attackers no longer treat water utilities as too small to target. Documented intrusions into U.S. drinking water and wastewater systems, the exposure of internet-connected operational technology, and rising scrutiny from regulators and insurers have converged on a single point of accountability: leadership. The America's Water Infrastructure Act already requires community water systems to assess risk and resilience and to maintain an emergency response plan. Federal and state cybersecurity expectations continue to tighten. The question is no longer whether your utility will be tested, but whether you can demonstrate that you were ready.
How Direnzic Helps
We turn cyber risk into something you can govern, prove, and defend.
Direnzic works alongside water utility leadership the way a trusted senior advisor would. We translate technical exposure into executive decisions, regulatory alignment, and operational resilience, so that protecting the system strengthens your standing rather than competing with it.
Regulatory defensibility
Alignment with AWIA risk and resilience requirements and evolving EPA and CISA expectations, documented in a way that holds up to a board, an auditor, or a regulator.
Operational continuity
Protection and recovery planning for the administrative and operational systems that keep billing, treatment oversight, and daily operations running.
Leadership readiness
Your executives and board rehearse the decisions they would actually face in a crisis, before the crisis, through structured tabletop exercises and crisis leadership coaching.
Ratepayer and public trust
Visible, reportable controls and a clear communications posture, so that confidence in the utility is protected even under pressure.
What We Deliver
The work that matters most for water utility leaders.
AWIA & RRA-ERP Alignment
Support for your Risk and Resilience Assessment and Emergency Response Plan, with the cybersecurity dimension treated as seriously as physical resilience.
Cyber Crisis Leadership Program
Executive and board preparation for the moments that define a utility's reputation, building the decision-making muscle a crisis demands.
Tabletop Exercises
Scenario-driven exercises tailored to water operations, exposing gaps in roles, communications, and recovery before an adversary does.
Assessment & Cyber Risk Analysis
A clear, prioritized view of your exposure across administrative and operational environments, with a remediation roadmap leadership can act on.
vCISO as a Service
Ongoing strategic security leadership without the cost of a full-time executive, keeping governance current as threats and regulations shift.
SCADA-Adjacent Protection
Guidance on protecting the Windows-based and remote-access systems that surround operational technology, where exposure most often begins.
Why Direnzic
Credible enough to bring into your most sensitive environments.
Direnzic is a CISO-led cybersecurity and AI executive strategy firm founded in 2008, with more than twenty years of combined experience across cybersecurity, IT, and digital forensics. We work where the stakes are highest: water and wastewater utilities, municipalities, transit, manufacturing, healthcare, and other regulated environments.
Board-ready reporting. Plain-English executive guidance. We translate technical risk into the language your board, your regulators, and your leadership team can act on, so cybersecurity strengthens your standing rather than complicating it.
Case Study Snapshot
What our support looks like in practice.
A utility or public-sector environment needed to strengthen cybersecurity planning across administrative, operational, and leadership functions while balancing limited resources and critical service expectations.
Direnzic provided assessment support, cybersecurity planning, technical coordination, documentation guidance, and leadership-level communication to help the organization understand risk and prioritize next steps.
The organization gained clearer visibility, stronger documentation, better leadership alignment, and a more defensible path toward cyber resilience.
Representative example. Anonymized to protect client confidentiality and not a specific named client.
Cyber Resilience Technology
The right tools, selected for your environment and implemented with intent.
Strategy only protects a utility when it is operationalized. We help water systems select, deploy, and align practical security tools to their risk profile and budget. For water utilities, three capabilities carry the most weight.
Managed Detection & Response
Round-the-clock protection and monitoring for operator workstations, utility laptops, and servers, giving you enterprise-grade detection without building an internal security operations center.
DMARC, SPF & DKIM Enforcement
Stop attackers from spoofing your utility's domain in fake billing notices, public alerts, and vendor emails. A visible, reportable control that reinforces public trust and governance.
Image-Based & Cloud Recovery
Fast, reliable recovery for critical servers, workstations, billing systems, and cloud-based email and files, including options for isolated and air-gapped environments.
Beyond these, we help water utilities add email threat protection against phishing and business email compromise, security awareness training for operators and administrative staff, and secure exchange for sensitive customer, board, and regulatory communications, each layered in only where it earns its place.
Not sure where your organization stands?
Download the Water Utility Cyber Readiness Checklist to identify common gaps in governance, incident readiness, vendor risk, backup and recovery, and cyber resilience.
Common Questions
What water utility leaders ask us first.
Do water utilities need cybersecurity support even if they already have an IT provider?
Yes. An IT provider may handle systems, support tickets, infrastructure, or maintenance, but water utilities also need governance, incident readiness, risk prioritization, documentation, vendor oversight, and leadership-level cyber decision support. Direnzic can work alongside internal teams, MSPs, engineers, and operational vendors.
Can Direnzic help with RRA-ERP cybersecurity alignment?
Yes. Direnzic helps water utilities review cybersecurity-related resilience planning, identify documentation gaps, prioritize improvements, and connect cyber risk to operational continuity and leadership reporting.
Does Direnzic work with SCADA or operational technology environments?
Direnzic supports SCADA-adjacent and operational technology cybersecurity planning, including access control, segmentation discussions, vendor coordination, risk review, documentation, and incident readiness. Any technical recommendations should be validated against the specific operational environment and safety requirements.
Can Direnzic help us prepare for a cyber incident?
Yes. Direnzic supports incident response planning, executive tabletop exercises, communications planning, escalation workflows, recovery priorities, and post-exercise improvement plans.
Does Direnzic sell cybersecurity software?
Direnzic helps clients evaluate, license, and align select cybersecurity tools where appropriate. Technology recommendations are tied to the client's risk environment, governance needs, recovery requirements, staffing, and operational priorities.
Start the Conversation
Let's make sure you can answer the questions before they are asked.
Schedule a consultation to discuss your utility's cyber risk, your AWIA and regulatory standing, and the practical steps that would most strengthen your resilience and your board's confidence.
Schedule a Consultation