# Robert M. Lee

> Robert M. Lee is the CEO and co-founder of Dragos, a SANS Fellow, author, former U.S. Air Force cyber warfare officer assigned to the NSA, and a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard. His career has centered on operational technology and industrial control systems - the computers behind electric grids, water systems, manufacturing lines, and other physical infrastructure - combining frontline incident work, practical education, public service, and company building.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Dragos, Inc.
- **Organizations:** Dragos, Inc., SANS Institute, United States Army National Guard, United States Air Force, National Security Agency, International Society of Automation, National Cryptologic Foundation, World Economic Forum
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, United States Air Force Academy, Master of Science in Cybersecurity - Digital Forensics, Utica College, Doctoral studies in War Studies focused on control-system cybersecurity, King’s College London
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Dragos, an operational-technology cybersecurity company., Helped establish an NSA mission dedicated to identifying threats to industrial infrastructure., Helped lead analysis of the 2015 cyberattack on Ukraine’s power grid.

## Career timeline

- **2010s** — Served as a U.S. Air Force Cyber Warfare Operations Officer assigned to the NSA and helped establish a mission focused on threats to industrial infrastructure.
- **2013** — Published SCADA and Me, a children’s book designed to explain industrial control systems.
- **2015** — Co-founded Dragos and helped lead analysis of the cyberattack on Ukraine’s power grid.
- **2016** — Named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in Enterprise Technology; Dragos, Inc. was established as a product company.
- **2017** — Dragos researchers published analysis of CRASHOVERRIDE and TRISIS, two consequential industrial malware cases.
- **2021** — Dragos supported the operational-technology response associated with the Colonial Pipeline ransomware incident.
- **2022** — Dragos uncovered PIPEDREAM; Lee received SC Media’s Security Executive of the Year award.
- **2025** — Direct commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard and testified to Congress on lessons since Stuxnet.
- **2026** — Announced that Accenture agreed to acquire a majority stake in Dragos; Lee said he would remain CEO and Dragos would remain a standalone, independent company.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Dragos, an operational-technology cybersecurity company.
- Helped establish an NSA mission dedicated to identifying threats to industrial infrastructure.
- Helped lead analysis of the 2015 cyberattack on Ukraine’s power grid.
- Led or contributed to public research on CRASHOVERRIDE, TRISIS and PIPEDREAM.
- Created SANS ICS515 and served as lead author for SANS FOR578; also co-authored ICS310.
- Named to Forbes’ 2016 30 Under 30 list in Enterprise Technology.
- Named SC Media’s 2022 Security Executive of the Year.
- Testified multiple times before U.S. congressional committees on critical-infrastructure cybersecurity.
- Authored SCADA and Me, Threat Intelligence and Me, and Santa and Me.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Accenture announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Dragos. Lee said he would remain CEO and that Dragos would remain standalone and independent, with plans to integrate runZero and NetRise after regulatory approval.
- **2026-02** — After the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Lee published an essay on AI risks to operational technology and argued for governance, monitoring, resilience planning and documented dependencies.
- **2025-07** — Lee testified before a U.S. House subcommittee on lessons learned in the 15 years since Stuxnet and on priorities for defending critical infrastructure.
- **2025-03** — Lee publicly explained his return to military service after being direct commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard in February 2025.

## Links

- Website: https://www.robertmlee.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robmichaellee
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/RobertMLee
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DragosInc

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/robert-lee
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-25