Securing Water Infrastructure: Cyber Defense Strategies for the Modern Threat Landscape

11:30 am
-
12:00 pm
CT

Municipal water infrastructure has become a prime target for cybercriminals, nation-state actors, and insider threats, making cybersecurity not just an IT concern, but a critical public health imperative. The 2021 Oldsmar, Florida incident, where a hacker attempted to poison a city's water supply by manipulating chemical levels remotely, and the Maroochy Shire breach that released millions of gallons of raw sewage, serve as stark reminders of what is at stake when water utilities remain unprotected.For cybersecurity professionals working on the go-to-market and business side of the industry, water utilities represent one of the most compelling and underserved market opportunities today. Thousands of municipal water systems nationwide operate with aging infrastructure, limited security budgets, and minimal OT specific expertise, creating both significant risk and significant demand for scalable, practical cybersecurity solutions.This session draws from real-world implementation experience securing water infrastructure for the City of Dallas, covering freshwater treatment plants, wastewater facilities, and flood control systems serving 3.5 million residents. Attendees will gain firsthand insight into how defense in depth strategies, including network segmentation, zero trust architecture, AI powered anomaly detection, and secure remote access, were successfully deployed across legacy operational technology environments without a single moment of unplanned downtime.Beyond the technical framework, this presentation unpacks the unique challenges of selling and marketing cybersecurity solutions to water utilities: navigating procurement cycles, communicating risk to non-technical municipal executives, and aligning solutions with regulatory mandates such as NIST SP 800-82 and ISA/IEC 62443.Whether you are crafting go-to-market strategy, building sales narratives, or developing content targeting critical infrastructure clients, this session delivers actionable intelligence to help cybersecurity organizations position their solutions effectively in one of the most important and fastest growing verticals in the industry.

Session Agenda

  • 1. Understanding how municipal water utility decision makers think, what drives their purchasing decisions, and how to navigate complex public sector procurement cycles to position cybersecurity solutions effectively.
  • 2. Translating OT and ICS cybersecurity risks into business value language that resonates with non-technical municipal executives, city councils, and budget approvers to accelerate sales conversations.
  • 3. Applying real world proof points from the City of Dallas securing critical water infrastructure for 3.5 million residents, demonstrating how documented outcomes and zero downtime deployments build buyer confidence and trust.
  • 4. Leveraging compliance mandates such as NIST SP 800-82 and ISA/IEC 62443 as natural entry points for cybersecurity vendors and aligning marketing messaging and sales narratives around regulatory urgency.
  • 5. Sizing the water utility cybersecurity market opportunity, including thousands of underserved small and mid-sized utilities lacking dedicated security resources, and crafting scalable go-to-market strategies to reach them effectively.

Speakers

Venkata Kartheek Reddy Somasani

Information Technology Security Engineer

City of Dallas

Venkata Kartheek Reddy Somasani

Information Technology Security Engineer

City of Dallas

Venkata Kartheek Reddy Somasani is an accomplished Information Technology Security and Cybersecurity Engineer with over nine years of specialized experience designing, implementing, and securing enterprise-scale network infrastructures across on-premises and cloud environments. Based in Dallas, Texas, he has built a distinguished career focused on protecting critical public sector systems and safeguarding sensitive government operations.

Since May 2018, Venkata has served the City of Dallas through KC Synergy Solutions Inc., where he plays a pivotal role in securing vital municipal infrastructure. His responsibilities include comprehensive cybersecurity defense for the Dallas Police Department and Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS), ensuring the protection of sensitive law enforcement data through multi-layered security controls such as OKTA two-factor authentication, advanced VPN architectures, and strict CJIS compliance. He has engineered secure, disaster-resilient communication channels between CAD911 dispatch systems and the Texas Department of Public Safety, ensuring uninterrupted emergency response coordination statewide.

One of Venkata’s most significant accomplishments is the architecture of a secure, multi-zoned SCADA network for Dallas’s freshwater, wastewater, and stormwater treatment facilities. By implementing air-gapped environments, zero-internet-access zones, and IDS/IPS protections, he has directly safeguarded critical public health infrastructure from cyber threats. His expertise was further demonstrated during a major ransomware incident, where he successfully detected, contained, and eradicated malware by isolating compromised systems and blocking communication with the Royal ransomware group.

Venkata’s technical expertise spans Cisco ASA, Firepower Threat Defense, SD-WAN, Palo Alto firewalls, F5 BIG-IP, and web application firewalls. He has architected secure hybrid cloud environments using AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, and IPSEC tunnels, supported by AWS architect level certifications. He holds a Master’s degree in Information Assurance and maintains advanced certifications, including CJIS Level 4 and Cisco Firepower NGFW, consistently ensuring compliance with NIST and federal cybersecurity standards.

About this Session's Track

Cybersecurity Product & Services Marketing

Gain technical and market intelligence on positioning cybersecurity products, telling the right story, and translating complex technical capabilities into compelling customer value propositions.

GovCon & Public Sector

Discover the nuances of selling into government and public sector organizations, including contract vehicles, compliance best practices, and public‑sector positioning.