SANS Institue Joins the OTCC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 17, 2026 — The Operational Technology Cybersecurity Coalition (OTCC) today announced that SANS Institute (SANS) has joined the coalition as its newest member, adding a leading voice in cybersecurity training and workforce development to OTCC's growing network of organizations dedicated to securing the nation's critical infrastructure.

SANS offers cybersecurity training, exercises, assessments, and industry certifications, across multiple curriculums relevant to critical infrastructure asset owners and operators, including a curriculum focused specifically on industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT).

"We're glad to welcome SANS Institute to the coalition," said Tatyana Bolton, Executive Director of OTCC. "Workforce readiness is one of the most persistent challenges facing critical infrastructure owners and operators, and SANS brings deep expertise in preparing the people who defend these systems every day. Their training programs are a natural complement to the technical and policy work already underway across our membership."

"The joint coalition aspect is what drew SANS to the OTCC group, knowing that we have common interests across this community," said Tim Conway, SANS Fellow and ICS Curriculum Lead at the SANS Institute. "We don't view the OTCC members as competitors, but rather as partners, as we all play a role in preparing the workforce to defend global critical infrastructure."

For SANS, the decision to join a coalition alongside cybersecurity peers came down to shared purpose and joint mission.

According to SANS, the biggest challenge facing critical infrastructure today isn't a single threat actor or vulnerability. It's whether defenders have the resources and capacity to protect increasingly complex process environments. As the organization behind some of the industry's most respected ICS and OT training programs, SANS has spent decades working directly with the practitioners on the front lines of that challenge, and sees workforce capacity as the throughline connecting nearly every risk facing the sector today.

SANS sees a clear path forward for the federal government: build stronger public-private partnerships, forge trusted relationships before a crisis hits, and prepare jointly for a coordinated response. Regulation has a role to play too, but SANS points to workforce development as the piece that makes everything else possible. It's the same conviction that shapes SANS's own training curriculum: without people trained to implement and maintain these systems securely, no policy or partnership can close the gap on its own.

SANS Institute joins a coalition of organizations working together to strengthen public policy and improve the security of operational technology environments across the country.

About OTCC: The Operational Technology Cybersecurity Coalition (OTCC) brings together a diverse group of cybersecurity stakeholders dedicated to improving the security of operational technology environments and strengthening public policy to secure critical infrastructure across the country.

About SANS Institute: Launched in 1989 as a cooperative for information security thought leadership, SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute is the largest and most trusted provider of cybersecurity training, certifications, programs, and resources in the world. Our ongoing mission is to empower current and future cybersecurity practitioners with practical skills and knowledge that make the digital world safer, and to support the global cybersecurity community at every stage of their journey.

Media Contact: Faith Grant faith@otcybercoalition.org