Dragos

# High-Level Overview

Dragos is an industrial cybersecurity company that protects operational technology (OT) environments and critical infrastructure from cyber threats.[1] Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Hanover, Maryland, Dragos serves electric utilities, oil and gas, manufacturing, and other critical sectors by providing visibility into industrial control systems (ICS), vulnerability management, threat detection, and incident response capabilities.[1][2]

The company addresses a critical gap in cybersecurity: while traditional IT security solutions dominate the market, industrial environments require specialized expertise and purpose-built technology designed specifically for OT systems like SCADA and DCS platforms.[5] Dragos combines proprietary platform technology with managed services, threat intelligence, and professional services to help organizations defend against threat groups that specialize in targeting industrial infrastructure.[2] The company's mission extends beyond commercial success—it aims to "safeguard civilization from those trying to disrupt the industrial infrastructure we depend on every day," reflected in initiatives like its Community Defense Program, which provides free platform software to U.S. utilities with less than $100M in annual revenue.[3]

# Origin Story

Dragos was founded in 2016 by experts with deep experience investigating and analyzing significant cyber attacks on operational technology systems.[5] The founding team brought credibility from having worked on some of the most consequential industrial cyber incidents in history, positioning the company as a trusted authority in OT cybersecurity from inception.[5] This expert pedigree became a key differentiator—rather than adapting IT security solutions to industrial environments, Dragos built from the ground up with OT practitioners who understood the unique constraints, protocols, and threat landscape of critical infrastructure.[2]

# Core Differentiators

• OT-Native Platform Design: The Dragos Platform is purpose-built for industrial environments, not adapted from IT security tools. It delivers automated asset discovery, vulnerability management with OT-aligned risk scoring, and threat detection specifically calibrated for ICS/OT networks.[3]

• Unmatched Threat Intelligence: Dragos maintains industry-leading OT threat intelligence backed by a team of ICS cybersecurity practitioners. This intelligence feeds directly into the platform's detection capabilities, enabling contextualized, threat-specific analytics that reduce false positives.[2][3]

• Vulnerability Management Expertise: Dragos is the only OT cybersecurity platform to provide corrected, enriched, and prioritized vulnerability guidance with a "Now, Next, Never" risk prioritization methodology, helping teams allocate resources strategically without alert fatigue.[3][4]

• AI-Enhanced Analysis: Platform 3.0 incorporates AI-driven vulnerability analysis to accelerate back-end analysis and improve delivery speed of contextual vulnerability information while maintaining accuracy.[4]

• Comprehensive Service Ecosystem: Beyond the platform, Dragos offers managed threat hunting (Neighborhood Watch), professional services for ICS strategy development, training programs, and OT Watch Complete—a 24/7 managed detection and response service.[2][3][4]

• Mission-Driven Community Programs: Through its Community Defense Program and OT-CERT (Cyber Emergency Readiness Team), Dragos provides free tools and training to smaller utilities and asset operators globally, having onboarded 1,600+ organizations across 60 countries.[3]

# Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Dragos operates at the intersection of two powerful trends: the digitalization of critical infrastructure and the rising sophistication of nation-state and criminal threat actors targeting industrial systems. As power grids, water utilities, and manufacturing facilities become increasingly connected and software-dependent, they face cyber risks that traditional IT security cannot adequately address.[5]

The company benefits from growing regulatory pressure and organizational awareness around OT cybersecurity. Critical infrastructure operators face mounting compliance requirements and face existential operational risks—a successful attack on an electric grid or oil refinery has consequences far beyond data loss, affecting public safety and economic stability.[3][4] This creates a durable market dynamic where OT cybersecurity is not discretionary but essential.

Dragos also influences the broader ecosystem by establishing standards for how industrial cybersecurity should be approached. By demonstrating that OT environments require specialized expertise, dedicated platforms, and industry-specific threat intelligence, the company has helped legitimize OT cybersecurity as a distinct market segment rather than a subset of general IT security.[3][5]

# Quick Take & Future Outlook

Dragos is well-positioned to capture significant market share in the expanding OT cybersecurity sector. The company's combination of deep technical expertise, purpose-built platform technology, and comprehensive service offerings creates defensible competitive advantages in a market where customers require both sophistication and trust.

Looking ahead, several trends will shape Dragos's trajectory. First, regulatory mandates around critical infrastructure protection will likely accelerate adoption, particularly as governments worldwide prioritize resilience against state-sponsored threats. Second, the integration of AI and machine learning into threat detection and vulnerability analysis—as demonstrated in Platform 3.0—will become table stakes, and Dragos's early moves here position it favorably. Third, the company's mission-driven approach to community defense may increasingly resonate with both customers and investors seeking technology companies with genuine social impact.

The fundamental challenge Dragos must navigate is scaling expertise—OT cybersecurity requires deep domain knowledge that cannot be easily commoditized. As the market grows, maintaining the quality and credibility of threat intelligence and managed services while expanding globally will be critical to sustaining competitive advantage.