Global Water and Utilities Cybersecurity Market Trends and Insights
Rising OT and IT Convergence in Water Operations
Water systems that once depended on separation from enterprise environments now send telemetry to corporate networks and cloud-based SCADA dashboards, which changes how the water and utilities cybersecurity market is being prioritized by operators. Fortinet found that 52% of organizations placed OT security under the CISO or CSO in 2025, up from 16% in 2022, which shows a clear governance shift in connected industrial environments. That change matters because utilities can no longer treat OT protection as a separate engineering issue when operational data, remote access, and business systems are increasingly linked. The water and utilities cybersecurity market is gaining from this shift because passive asset discovery, protocol inspection, and anomaly detection tools become necessary once older isolation models weaken. Vendors that connect OT visibility to enterprise security operations centers are therefore improving their position in procurement decisions across the water and utilities cybersecurity market.Escalating Ransomware Pressure on Water Utilities
Ransomware has become a direct growth driver for the water and utilities cybersecurity market because attacks on industrial and municipal environments now create service, billing, and recovery disruption at the same time. Dragos reported 3,300 ransomware attacks targeting industrial organizations in 2025, with the water sector remaining among the persistently targeted verticals. Honeywell also stated that ransomware attacks targeting industrial operators rose 46% in the first quarter of 2025, which reinforced the need for faster detection and response across essential infrastructure. The practical effect is that even attacks centered on business systems can interrupt customer service, payment functions, and manual operating continuity without deep OT expertise from the attacker. That reality is widening the addressable scope of the water and utilities cybersecurity market because every connected utility environment now needs stronger resilience across both IT and OT layers.Budget Constraints Among Small and Rural Utilities
Budget pressure remains the most persistent adoption barrier for the water and utilities cybersecurity market because many small systems still struggle to fund modern security architecture at the pace threats are rising. The Congressional Research Service noted that the reintroduced Cybersecurity for Rural Water Systems Act of 2025 proposes USD 32.5 million per year through FY2030 for the USDA circuit rider program, including USD 7.5 million annually dedicated to cybersecurity technical assistance. That support is meaningful, but it also shows that a large share of smaller operators still need outside help before they can absorb more advanced tools or service contracts. Shared-service and managed models may reduce costs over time, yet they are still developing and have not fully closed the protection gap across the water and utilities cybersecurity market. Until those models scale further, smaller utilities are likely to remain focused on minimum compliance, selective controls, and slower upgrade cycles.Other drivers and restraints analyzed in the detailed report include:
- Expansion of Smart Meters and Remote Monitoring Infrastructure
- Compliance-Driven Security Modernization Spending
- Legacy SCADA and OT Integration Complexity
Segment Analysis
The solutions segment held 62.48% of the water and utilities cybersecurity market share in 2025, which reflected the sector’s earlier emphasis on foundational controls such as network monitoring, intrusion detection, and asset discovery. That buying pattern shows that many utilities first addressed basic visibility and segmentation before moving into more advanced operating models. Services are projected to grow at a 20.12% CAGR from 2026 to 2031 because utilities increasingly recognize that tools alone do not deliver protection if OT expertise is thin. This is a clear sign that the water and utilities cybersecurity market is shifting from initial product acquisition toward sustained operational support.Managed services are becoming more relevant as shared service models emerge for smaller operators and as larger utilities seek continuous monitoring outside normal plant staffing patterns. Professional services are also benefiting from European compliance obligations because utilities must document OT-specific risk management, reporting, and governance processes under NIS2. Cloud-delivered platforms such as Claroty xDome are reducing deployment friction and supporting faster evidence collection, which makes service engagement easier to justify in the water and utilities cybersecurity industry. For the water and utilities cybersecurity market, these favors bundled offers that combine software, ongoing monitoring, response support, and compliance workflows rather than one-time license sales.
Network security held the largest 34.29% share in 2025 because segmentation between IT and OT environments remains one of the most important controls utilities can deploy against lateral movement and remote compromise. This lead position also shows how much attention the water and utilities cybersecurity market still places on separating critical process networks from broader enterprise exposure. Cloud security is projected to expand at the fastest 22.81% CAGR through 2031 as utilities adopt cloud-based SCADA support functions, remote dashboards, and AMI head-end systems. In parallel, application and control system security, identity and access security, and security monitoring are all gaining traction because utilities are tightening remote access, privileged account use, and event visibility.
Governance, risk, and compliance tools are becoming a more visible buying category inside the water and utilities cybersecurity market as audit readiness becomes part of daily security operations. Honeywell’s June 2026 OT Cybersecurity Suite expansion added AI-powered governance and compliance automation intended to reduce evidence collection time from weeks to hours. IEC 62443 is also shaping how buyers assess control system protection and vendor fit, especially where procurement now ties technical security to formal compliance expectations. As a result, the water and utilities cybersecurity market is moving beyond perimeter defense and toward broader control coverage that connects prevention, detection, reporting, and governance.
Complete Report Scope:
- By Component
- Solutions
- Services
- By Security Type
- Network Security
- Endpoint and Asset Security
- Application and Control System Security
- Identity and Access Security
- Security Monitoring and Threat Detection
- Governance, Risk and Compliance
- By Deployment Mode
- On-Premises
- Cloud
- Hybrid
- By Application
- Water Treatment Plants
- Water Distribution Systems
- Wastewater Management Systems
- Smart Water Metering Infrastructure
- Remote Monitoring and Control Centers
- Pumping Stations and Reservoir Infrastructure
- By Geography
- North America
- United States
- Canada
- Mexico
- South America
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Rest of South America
- Europe
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- France
- Italy
- Spain
- Russia
- Rest of Europe
- Asia-Pacific
- China
- Japan
- India
- South Korea
- Australia
- Rest of Asia-Pacific
- Middle East and Africa
- Middle East
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates
- Turkey
- Rest of Middle East
- Africa
- South Africa
- Rest of Africa
- Middle East
- North America
Geography Analysis
North America held 38.25% share of the global water and utilities cybersecurity market in 2025, which kept the region in the lead on revenue and regulatory maturity. The EPA AWIA 2025-2026 compliance cycle pushed staggered risk and resilience assessment deadlines across thousands of community water systems through 2025 and into mid-2026. New York added another layer in July 2025 by proposing water sector cybersecurity regulations and launching a USD 2.5 million SECURE grant program. Dragos also confirmed in its 2026 year-in-review that water remained a persistently targeted sector, which supports continued urgency in the North American water and utilities cybersecurity market. South America remains a smaller contributor, but Brazil and Argentina are seeing more interest as digital water management programs expand connected utility networks.Europe was the second-largest regional base in the water and utilities cybersecurity market, with Germany, the United Kingdom, and France leading adoption. NIS2 converted cybersecurity from a discretionary program into a legal requirement for water and wastewater entities through incident notification, supply chain obligations, and management accountability. Germany’s B3S WA fourth edition received BSI suitability approval in September 2024 and offers a sector-specific path for more than 6,000 utilities. Collective defense efforts such as CyberSec@Wasser are also strengthening shared support capacity across the regional water and utilities cybersecurity market.
Asia-Pacific is projected to expand at a 23.87% CAGR through 2031, making it the fastest-growing region in the water and utilities cybersecurity market. Japan revised its water sector information security safety guidance in March 2025, which reflected a more formal compliance environment for facility control systems. Large automated metering and smart city programs are increasing the number of connected utility endpoints across major Asian markets, which is expanding future demand for monitoring, segmentation, and endpoint protection. Singapore’s digital water model and broader utility automation programs across the region are also raising expectations for resilient operating architecture. The Middle East and Africa remain smaller today, but GCC infrastructure protection programs are lifting demand while many African systems still face broader infrastructure and funding limits that slow faster adoption.
List of Companies Covered in this Report:
- Siemens AG
- Schneider Electric SE
- Honeywell International Inc.
- ABB Ltd.
- GE Vernova Inc.
- Cisco Systems, Inc.
- Fortinet, Inc.
- IBM Corporation
- Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
- Rockwell Automation, Inc.
- Claroty Ltd.
- Dragos, Inc.
- Waterfall Security Solutions Ltd.
- Radiflow Ltd.
- Armis, Inc.
- Nozomi Networks Inc.
- Sensus USA Inc.
- Badger Meter, Inc.
- Itron, Inc.
- Trimble Inc.
- Aclara Technologies LLC
- Oracle Corporation
- Broadcom Inc.
- Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
- CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.
Additional Benefits:
- The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
- 3 months of analyst support
Table of Contents
Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- Siemens AG
- Schneider Electric SE
- Honeywell International Inc.
- ABB Ltd.
- GE Vernova Inc.
- Cisco Systems, Inc.
- Fortinet, Inc.
- IBM Corporation
- Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
- Rockwell Automation, Inc.
- Claroty Ltd.
- Dragos, Inc.
- Waterfall Security Solutions Ltd.
- Radiflow Ltd.
- Armis, Inc.
- Nozomi Networks Inc.
- Sensus USA Inc.
- Badger Meter, Inc.
- Itron, Inc.
- Trimble Inc.
- Aclara Technologies LLC
- Oracle Corporation
- Broadcom Inc.
- Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
- CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.

