Join the Overwatch: New nonprofit is dedicated to protecting NH’s critical infrastructure and competitive advantage

Since the end of World War II, the United States has relied upon a technological advantage as both sword and shield in the fight to protect freedoms, industry, international relations and human rights across the globe.

But time and distractions due to internal issues, spectacles and conflicts has dulled our edge. Our adversaries have slowly made progress since the attacks of 9/11 and the economic issues of 2008. This dulling is no longer unchecked paranoia. The technological advantage that keeps our homeland and much of the free world safe has never been smaller.

A few weeks ago, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and federal EPA Administrator Michael Regan released a letter warning that “disabling cyberattacks are striking water and wastewater systems throughout the United States.” The letter singled out Chinese and Iranian hackers, noting that “these attacks have the potential to disrupt the critical lifeline of clean and safe drinking water, as well as impose significant costs on affected communities.”

Analysts have long talked about the transition from cybercrime to cyber warfare.

Welcome to the future. Last month, CISA confirmed that China already has the capabilities to disrupt key services inside the United States. The news media has documented increasingly sophisticated cybercrime, hacks and ransomware attacks that threaten key industries, harm individuals and collectively cost billions of dollars.

The Overwatch Foundation, a New Hampshire based nonprofit foundation, aims to take on this emerging challenge by providing grant-funded cybersecurity infrastructure projects, modernization and cyber workforce development. Our goal is to create a confluence of concerned citizens, business and government leaders, and along with our federal partners, set aside prestige, profit and personal gain to collect the combined strength of our state to mount a meaningful response to this threat.

The Overwatch Foundation has been awarded two grants, one to deploy the .GOV programs anti-impersonation functions to combat phishing scams and the other for the protection of our drinking water systems

While the more than 575 entities in New Hampshire eligible for grant-funded services have unique characteristics, each provides essential services while safeguarding data entrusted to them. The goal of the Overwatch Foundation is to assist qualifying entities to develop plans to protect their email systems, web systems and drinking water infrastructure, while providing turnkey solutions, including engineering, to get the job done.

We proceed with a few key foundational points in mind.

First, we plan to create and support solutions over a three-year period, but as part of that process, teach, support and train these entities to maintain these efforts for themselves eventually.

Second, we will not disrupt the meaningful and established relationships that New Hampshire-based small business IT providers have with their customers. Our commitment as a nonprofit organization is to respect those pre-existing relationships and work collaboratively with them.

Third, as a nonprofit entity, we are committed to maximizing return on investment.

We have a low overhead with our primary costs attributed to engineering talent and compensation, meaning our resources can be dedicated to serving our governmental customers, rather than losing dollars to profit margins, federal taxes, or markups on equipment, software licensing or business development expenses.

Finally, our leadership team’s experience implementing state-sized cyber initiatives allows us to work together with those managing cyber risk in New Hampshire.

No one organization can achieve the best outcomes of these important efforts on their own. Instead, this is a collaborative strategy between the various agencies, teams and organizations.

In the months ahead, we will be finalizing our pilot programs and working with key leaders at all levels to talk about the Overwatch Foundation and our goals to provide a cyber shield for our municipal association and water systems. We are proud to be in the fight, and we welcome all of our fellow Granite Staters to do the same and join the Overwatch.

Jason Sgro is chairman of the board of the Overwatch Foundation and leads New Hampshire’s largest dedicated municipal incident response team. He serves as senior partner, business strategy, and head of cybersecurity and human privacy at The ATOM Group and is the president of the FBI InfraGard Program in New Hampshire and director of the New Hampshire Office for Cooperation in Cybersecurity.