Three Cyber Orgs Create Critical Infrastructure Defense Project

According to a March 7 press release, Austin, Texas-based CrowdStrike; Denver, Colo.-based Ping Identity; and San Francisco, Calif.-based Cloudflare launched the Critical Infrastructure Defense Project. The three organizations say that the project originated from conversations with cybersecurity and government experts that are concerned about the potential retaliation to the sanctions that resulted from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The release states that “In particular, there is a fear that critical United States infrastructure will be targeted with cyberattacks. While these attacks may target any industry, the experts we consulted with were particularly concerned about three areas that were often underprepared and could cause significant disruption: hospitals, energy, and water.”

On Feb. 28, we reported that the American Hospital Association (AHA) published a cybersecurity advisory warning that Russia may use cyberattacks as a form of retaliation due to the economic and military sanctions placed on the country by the U.S. government and NATO allies.

The release adds that the Critical Infrastructure Defense Project will offer a wide suite of products from CrowdStrike, Ping Identity, and Cloudflare for free for at least the next four months to any United States-based hospital, or energy, or water utility.

“We are not powerless against hackers. Organizations that have adopted a Zero Trust approach to security have been successful at mitigating even determined attacks,” the release continues. “There are three core components to any Zero Trust security approach: 1) Network Security, 2) Endpoint Security; and 3) Identity.”

Moreover, “Our teams are also committed to working directly with organizations in these sectors to make onboarding as quick and painless as possible. We will onboard customers under this project with the same level of service as if they were our largest paying customers. We believe it is our duty to help ensure that the nation’s critical infrastructure remains online and available through this challenging time.”

The release concludes by saying that the Critical Infrastructure Defense Project may expand to additional sectors and countries, although the three organizations do not hope the predictions of these retaliatory cyberattacks become reality.