October is Cybersecurity Month! There is no better time to evaluate your utility’s security, readiness, and practices.
Cyberattacks on utilities are rising fast. Reported incidents increased by nearly 70% from 2023 to 2024, and more than 60% of U.S. utility operators reported being affected in the past year. For those affected, the average breach costs about half a million dollars and often results in permanent data loss!
But the risk isn’t just financial. Utilities hold some of the most sensitive customer and operational data in the community. A breach not only calls into question your reliability as a provider but also creates reputational damage that lingers, forcing leaders into reactive mode.
Cybersecurity is more than just checking a box. It’s about equipping your teams to stay ahead of evolving threats and assuring your customers that their utility is always a trusted partner.
More Than Compliance
For many leaders, the first instinct is to point to compliance certifications as a solution. However, while compliance is important, it’s only part of the solution. SOC 2 or SOC 3 attestation demonstrates that security controls are in place and have been independently verified; however, these audits alone don’t guarantee security.
For many utilities, legacy on-premise CIS platforms introduce risk by relying on manual, slow upgrade cycles. Updates may be pushed years apart, leaving staff scrambling to patch vulnerabilities while attackers work around the clock to exploit them. Siloed systems and patchwork fixes widen those gaps, creating stress for teams and providing opportunities for malicious actors to exploit.
A modern SaaS CIS goes further. Continuous, automated updates deliver the latest protections without requiring a significant upgrade cycle, thereby removing that burden from utility staff. Built-in controls and proactive monitoring close the windows that attackers try to exploit, and a trusted cloud infrastructure reinforces security. More importantly, it enables a culture of trust. Customers can transact with confidence knowing their data is safe, and staff can focus on service rather than scrambling to manage risks.
Pillars of a Secure Utility CIS and Integrated Systems
Moving beyond compliance means focusing on the areas where vulnerabilities most often appear—processes, people, and technology. The good news is that proven practices can strengthen your security without overwhelming your teams.
Foundational security practices we recommend include:
1. Vendor Compliance & Certifications
SOC 2 or SOC 3 attestation ensures that security controls are in place and have been independently verified by a third party. These certifications demonstrate that your systems meet recognized industry standards, which is critical in a regulated sector like utilities. However, as we discussed earlier, these certifications serve as the foundation.
2. End-to-End Data Encryption
Encryption ensures that even if sensitive customer or operational data is intercepted, it cannot be used. For utilities, this means protecting information both at rest (stored in your systems) and in transit (moving between users, applications, or portals). Strong encryption reduces risk and signals to customers that their personal information is handled with the utmost care, applying leading-edge technology.
3. Access Control
Utilities handle enormous amounts of sensitive data, and not every employee needs access to all of it. Enforcing least-privilege access ensures that staff have only the necessary permissions to view and use resources for their role. On the customer side, secure logins and multi-factor authentication help protect accounts while ensuring the experience is still easy and frictionless. In payment systems and customer portals, customers expect a balance of safety and convenience. Proper access control reduces the chance of internal errors while protecting against external threats.
4. Third-Party Risk and Vendor Management
Every additional vendor connected to your systems introduces potential vulnerabilities, and risk grows with each new integration point. Five vendors may mean ten connections, twenty vendors can create nearly 200! Each connection acts as a potential failure risk or attack vector. As vendor sprawl increases, so do the costs of oversight, contract management, and support, particularly when billing, payments, and customer management are fragmented across separate platforms. An integrated ecosystem reduces these risks by consolidating functions within a single platform, simplifying oversight, lowering costs, and dramatically shrinking the attack surface.
The chart below illustrates how quickly complexity and risk can escalate, as each integration presents a potential point of failure or vulnerability. Risk is not linear—it grows combinatorially.
5. Staff Training & Awareness
Technology alone cannot stop every threat. Cybersecurity is most effective when technology and people work together through training and awareness, especially because a single phishing email or compromised password can open the door to a larger breach. Regular training helps staff recognize suspicious activity, follow secure practices, and respond quickly to breaches.
6. Continuous Monitoring
Security is an ongoing, never-ending discipline. Annual audits and occasional reviews often leave significant gaps, allowing vulnerabilities to go unnoticed and creating opportunities for exploitation. Continuous monitoring, supported by real-time alerts and regular vulnerability scans, enables utilities to identify and address risks before they escalate. Pairing this with routine risk assessments and gap analyses ensures that defenses remain aligned with both evolving threats and regulatory expectations. With a continuous approach, utilities move from reacting to incidents toward proactively protecting their operations and sustaining customer trust.
Together, these pillars build the operational resilience utilities need to protect their data, their staff, and the trust of the communities they serve.
Cybersecurity for Risk Mitigation and Reputation Management
Cybersecurity is about managing risk and protecting the trust of you and your organization. For utilities, reliability is the cornerstone of that trust. A single breach can quickly erode confidence, leading to reputational damage that persists long after the technical issues are resolved.
A modern CIS creates the foundation for security resilience. It unifies data, keeps systems up to date automatically, and embeds security into daily workflows. That means staff spend less time patching gaps and more time serving customers. Customers can confidently interact and conduct business with your utility. And for leaders, it assures that decisions are backed by reliable, secure information.
As a utility leader, you don’t have to navigate this alone. If you’re exploring how a modern CIS can strengthen your utility’s security, our team is here to help you map the right security strategy and approach to protect your utility and your reputation.
