The gap

The problem is known. The urgency is real. The solution didn’t exist.

Governments, analysts, and regulators agree: critical infrastructure cybersecurity faces a structural gap — not of awareness, but of accessibility. The technology exists. It just wasn’t built for these environments.

The industry agrees on the barrier

The cybersecurity industry has recognized the gap for years. The problem isn’t capability — enterprise solutions are sophisticated. The problem is that sophistication itself became the barrier. Cost, complexity, connectivity requirements, and the need for specialist staff put cybersecurity out of reach for the organizations that need it most.

74%

of organizations cite cost and complexity as the primary barrier to OT cybersecurity

Gartner, 2024

77%

of critical infrastructure organizations remain in early stages of OT security maturity

SANS ICS/OT Survey, 2024

4.8 M

Global cybersecurity workforce gap — there aren’t enough specialists to go around

ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, 2024

What the market asked for

When CISA, DHS, and independent analysts described what critical infrastructure operators actually need, the requirements read like a product brief for something that didn’t exist yet.

Ease

Deployable by non-specialist operators

SANS 2024: 51% of ICS workforce lacks formal cybersecurity credentials

Intuitive

Operable without a dedicated SOC team

Ponemon 2025: lack of in-house expertise is #1 barrier (43%)

Affordable

Accessible to small and medium facilities

CrowdStrike 2025: 66% of SMBs cite cost as top obstacle

Air-Gap

No cloud dependency, no data leaving the facility

CISA Cross-Sector CPGs, 2024

The Consequences

The gap has consequences

The gap isn’t theoretical. It’s measured in breaches, violations, and infrastructure that remains invisible to the people responsible for protecting it.

91%

of critical infrastructure organizations experienced at least one cyber breach

Forrester / Tenable, 2024

70%

of U.S. water systems inspected were found in violation of federal cyber standards

EPA Inspector General, 2024

280,000

facilities in the US operate without meaningful cybersecurity visibility

StealthPath analysis of EPA, DOE, USACE & CISA data

Governments aren’t waiting

Across jurisdictions, regulators have moved from advisory to mandatory. The window for voluntary adoption is closing. What operators could once defer, they will soon be required to demonstrate.

Category
Order
Requirement
United States
Executive Order 14028 — Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity
Mandates Zero Trust architecture adoption across federal agencies and critical infrastructure supply chains. Sets timeline for compliance and reporting requirements.
United States
CISA Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs) 2.0
Baseline cybersecurity practices for critical infrastructure owners and operators, with emphasis on asset visibility, network segmentation, and detection capability.
International
NIS2 (EU), UK Cyber Bill, Six-Nation OT Guidance
EU’s NIS2 Directive: Introduces personal liability for management bodies. UK Cyber Security and Resilience Bill: Aligns post-Brexit requirements. Joint advisory from the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany: Establishes shared OT security principles.
Sector-specific: Water
“Security Poverty Line” (Wendy Nather, 2011)
The threshold below which organizations cannot meaningfully protect their systems. AWWA survey data (2024, 3,575 water professionals) confirms: 25% of small water systems lack the capability to implement basic cybersecurity controls.

The industry built solutions for the organizations that could afford them

The Structural Problem

Enterprise cybersecurity solutions were architected for large organizations with dedicated security teams, always-on connectivity, and six-figure budgets. Their business model depends on cloud infrastructure, professional services, and annual contracts priced per asset.

That model works for the top of the market. It structurally excludes everyone else — not because the technology is wrong, but because the economics, the deployment model, and the operational assumptions don’t translate to a 50-person water treatment plant or a remote power substation.

This isn’t a gap that can be closed by discounting enterprise products. It requires a different architecture, a different deployment model, a different economic structure, and a different assumption about who operates it.

91,000+

dams in the US alone

National Inventory of Dams

160,000+

water treatment plants in the US

EPA / Exercise Summary market analysis

69%

of dams under state regulatory responsibility

National Inventory of Dams

The gap is real. It’s been documented, debated, recognized, and argued.

The need is urgent. The infrastructure society depends on is the infrastructure that remains unprotected. The constraints are real and recognized.

What these facilities need is not more frameworks. It’s access to the data the frameworks require. Integrated into existing practices. Accessible, practical, useful, and secure.

That’s what StealthPath built.