Dragos Inc., a leading provider of cybersecurity protection for industrial controls systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) environments, has announced its deepening commitment to Europe. The company aims to provide industrial and critical infrastructure organizations in the region with the Dragos Platform, threat intelligence, and incident response services.
Since establishing a presence in the UK in October 2021, Dragos has expanded its team to include 25 full-time employees across Europe. Leading this expansion are key individuals such as Area Vice President for Europe and Africa Tony Atkins, Chief of Staff Phil Tonkin, Director for International Incident Response Kai Thomsen, and Principal Adversary Hunter and Technical Director Magpie Graham. To further accelerate its business, Dragos is also strengthening its European go-to-market teams with a growing team of sales, channel, and marketing professionals.
As industrial networks become more interconnected, cyber adversaries have found an increasingly straightforward path to target and infect critical systems at scale. By expanding its presence in Europe, Dragos aims to provide businesses with its world-leading industrial cybersecurity technology and expertise. This will enable organizations to defend against sophisticated adversaries, detect and respond to incidents, and strengthen their overall resiliency.
Furthermore, governments and industrial organizations in the region are increasingly recognizing the need for OT-specific cybersecurity to protect both businesses and society as a whole. In 2022 alone, Dragos identified 605 ransomware attacks against industrial organizations, resulting in an 87 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Speaking about the expansion, Tony Atkins emphasized the growing cyber threat landscape and stressed the importance of industrial organizations partnering with Dragos. He mentioned that beyond successful industrial cybersecurity journeys, Dragos aims to foster the local ICS/OT cybersecurity practitioner community through ongoing education and engagement.
One aspect that makes Dragos notable in Europe is the decades-long OT cybersecurity expertise the team brings. For example, Phil Tonkin, recently promoted to Chief of Staff, has 23 years of experience in the energy sector, with expertise in electricity transmission, distribution, generation, gas transmission, distribution, storage, and IT. Prior to joining Dragos, he led the OT security program at one of the world’s largest investor-owned utilities for five years.
Kai Thomsen, who leads a team of expert ICS incident responders and threat hunters for Dragos, has extensive experience in the manufacturing industry. With over six years at Audi AG and 14 years in the steel industry, Thomsen brings valuable insights into industrial cybersecurity. He also serves as a SANS instructor and is frequently invited to speak to media and audiences about the importance of industrial cybersecurity.
Magpie Graham, the Technical Director for Dragos’s intel team, brings over 16 years of experience in cybersecurity to his role. Graham has engineered and architected multiple generations of pan-government intrusion detection systems (IDS), reversed nation-state malware, and tracked state-sponsored actors globally. Previously, he led a team of threat intelligence analysts at Microsoft, focusing on tracking groups from Eastern Europe and Russia. At Dragos, Graham sets strategic requirements for capability development, delivers analysis systems, and ensures the necessary data acquisition required to fuel top-tier threat intelligence.
Earlier this year, Dragos celebrated the one-year anniversary of its community sharing program for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), called OT-CERT. This program has facilitated knowledge sharing and collaboration within the industrial cybersecurity community, further enhancing Dragos’s commitment to protecting critical infrastructure.
As Dragos deepens its commitment to Europe, its focus on providing industrial cybersecurity technology, expertise, and incident response services will play a vital role in safeguarding critical systems against cyber threats. By expanding its team in the region and fostering the local cybersecurity community, Dragos aims to contribute to a more resilient and secure industrial landscape.