Applied Technology Group, LLC

09/04/2026

September is National Preparedness Month! And Cybersecurity is ON REVIEW!
𝘿𝙊 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙒𝘼𝙄𝙏 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝘼𝙉 𝘼𝙏𝙏𝘼𝘾𝙆 𝙏𝙊 𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙑𝙐𝙇𝙉𝙀𝙍𝘼𝘽𝙇𝙀

For the past two days, Shane Adams of Applied Technology Group has participated in CISA’s Cyber Storm X as a Mississippi-based cybersecurity expert for critical infrastructure. Cyber Storm is designed to put real-world cyber response, coordination, decision-making, communication, and recovery plans under pressure, because a plan that looks good on paper still has to work when an incident is moving fast.

One of the most valuable parts of any exercise is what happens when something DOESN’T work exactly as expected.

• Processes break down.
• Ownership/Responsibility is unclear.
• Vulnerability surfaces.
• Critical control missing.

Those discoveries are not failures. They are exactly why organizations exercise in the first place, because once a gap is identified, it can be corrected before a real attacks gets the opportunity to exploit it.

Cyberattack attempts continue to put water systems, utilities, municipalities, healthcare organizations, operational technology environments, and other essential services in the crosshairs. Many of these organizations are also operating with smaller teams, limited cybersecurity resources, aging technology, and environments that have changed significantly since their last formal review.
September is National Preparedness Month, and there could not be a better time to take a hard look at your own cybersecurity readiness. CISA’s Cybersecurity Performance Goals provide critical infrastructure organizations with a practical baseline for identifying high-impact cybersecurity protections, measuring where they stand, and determining where improvements should be prioritized.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗮 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿.

𝗔𝗧𝗚 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀. 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿’𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆.

08/31/2026

Closing out August 2026 the best way we know how! At the Arkansas Rural Water Conference! Thanks to all who have swung by!

Remember, ATG provides free cybersecurity assessments to water & wastewater. Visit booth #182 or email us at [email protected] to get scheduled!

Over 50 assessments done thus far! Let's close the year out strong!!

08/13/2026

Imagine losing the ability to protect your communities... Completely unable to respond to citizen emergencies, teams unable to coordinate/communicate, utilities unable to pump clean water to homes, or having private citizen and student information erased, stolen, exposed... 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗺𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗖𝗦 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁...

Yesterday, ATG leadership attended the MASIT Risk Management Annual Conference, where our leadership spoke with county and emergency services officials about the cybersecurity risks they are managing. Thank you to the MAS team for hosting ATG and for the opportunity to continue these important conversations.

We continue to discover that many teams (even small teams) have growing concerns about their basic cyber defenses, especially given the ongoing cluster attacks seen on critical infrastructure.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁: 𝗕𝗨𝗗𝗚𝗘𝗧!!

Yet, many of these teams have not applied for the 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽𝘀.

Eligible Teams for SLC Grant Include:
✔️ Counties
✔️ Cities, towns, villages, and townships, including unincorporated ones
✔️ Special SLTT districts (water, sewer, utility, drainage, E-911, communications)
✔️ Local public authorities and utility authorities
✔️ School districts
✔️ Councils of governments
✔️ Regional or interstate government entities
✔️ Any agency or instrumentality of a local government (a city police department, fire department, or public works department, applying through the city)
✔️ Rural communities and other public entities
✔️ State agencies
✔️ Federally recognized tribes (Through the separate Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program)

The next round of the SLCGP is expected to open about mid-January 2027. Interested teams have until about mid-February to submit their Grant Applications. (Please note there may be slight delays due to the US Senate's vacation schedule... )

ATG has helped many teams navigate this process. It all starts with an ATG Cybersecurity Assessment to understand your existing systems, identify gaps, and identify any other vulnerabilities or breaches that may have occurred.

𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗟𝗖𝗚𝗣 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗧𝗚 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲.

𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼@𝗮𝘁𝗴𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺

08/11/2026

ATG is proud to attend the MASIT Risk Management Conferece this week. Our Founder & Principal, Shane Adams, will be speaking at the Wednesday luncheon.

Be sure you connect with Shane and the ATG Team to discuss your cybersecurity defenses and schedule time for your municipality's assessment.

08/04/2026

Rural Water District Cyber Attacks Continue

The FBI, CISA and EPA warned as early as April that Iranian-affiliated actors were exploiting programmable logic controllers across U.S. critical infrastructure. Rural water districts are among the primary targets, and now we are watching an attack unfold in real time.

Twelve states. Six disclosed. Still expanding… New Jersey confirmed two systems this morning. More are expected.

The breach method is not sophisticated. Attackers are finding programmable logic controllers sitting directly on the public internet, changing the IP address and the password, and locking operators out of their own systems.

The result: loss of monitoring and control, disabled alarms, pressure loss, flooding, boil water notices, and crews running plants by hand. In at least one utility, attackers went further and rewrote the controller's program logic.

Since 2024, attacks on Critical Infrastructure are up 70%. No matter how small your municipality, there is no hiding.

ATG proudly offers free cybersecurity assessments to Rural Water Districts.
Email our team at [email protected] to schedule your assessment today.

07/29/2026

𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗟𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀… 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

According to the latest FBI cyber insights, over $11.6 billion is estimated to have been lost to cybercrime and fraud thus far in 2026 due to increased phishing and advanced ransomware attacks.

It’s estimated that some key Critical Infrastructure Sectors are experiencing up to a 56% YOY increase in confirmed attacks, and the average cost of a single company breach sits somewhere around $10 million.

If you think hackers are only targeting large corporations and cities, they aren’t.
Teams should not assume their defenses are prepared for any attempt.

The smallest vulnerability can lead to weeks of disruption.

An ATG Cybersecurity Assessment provides a clear view of operational risks, and the security gaps that should be addressed before an incident disrupts production, compromises sensitive information, or interrupts essential services.

𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗱-𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗧𝗚 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

07/27/2026

𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟳𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗟 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗘𝗣𝗔 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀.

This means many utility systems may not know where they are vulnerable until an incident, audit, or disruption forces the issue. Cybersecurity gaps do not stay confined to the IT department. They can affect treatment, pumping, monitoring, distribution, and SCADA.

ATG proudly offers Assessment Audits for Water and Wastewater across the Southern Region. Do not wait for an incident to discover the gaps.

Shoot us a DM to schedule your system’s cybersecurity assessment!

07/15/2026

Critical Infrastructure protection depends on informed leaders, strong partnerships, and open conversations across sectors.

Tomorrow, the Mississippi InfraGard Members Alliance will bring together stakeholders and subject-matter experts for its Q3 Meeting at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear expert-led panel discussions focused on the challenges, risks, and responsibilities facing critical infrastructure organizations today.

ATG’s Shane Adams will be moderating two of the panels.

Critical Infrastructure stakeholders across Mississippi are encouraged to attend, listen, connect, and be part of the conversation.

Registration Opens at 8:30AM

07/15/2026

The ATG Team is at the Louisiana RWA Annual Conference this week! Be sure to swing by Booth 68!

07/04/2026