Rural hospitals in South Carolina will be the beneficiaries of a six-month cybersecurity pilot program conducted by the state, federal government and private sector tech companies.
Project Lifeline 250 was announced Monday by Governor Henry McMaster and White House National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross.
It aims to strengthen rural hospitals’ network defenses, identifying devices and technologies being used in critical care settings and implementing backup technologies to keep care running in the event of a cyberattack.
“Cyber threats are a rising challenge to our nation’s security, and we must remain vigilant to protect the systems our communities depend on,” he said in the announcement. “Project Lifeline 250 is another important step toward ensuring South Carolina’s rural hospitals have the resources they need to defend against cyberattacks and continue providing critical care.”
Of note, the cybersecurity boosts will come at no cost to rural hospitals participating in the pilot, according to an announcement from the governor’s office.
Outside of helping protect the participating hospitals, officials said they intend for the project to help evaluate which cybersecurity technologies can be scaled nationwide. They pointed to Project Watershed 250, a similar public-private pilot partnership in Texas launched over the summer to similarly explore cybersecurity protections for critical infrastructure.
“Project Lifeline 250 connects the world-leading American industry with rural hospitals and uses the greatest American tools and capabilities to defend hospital networks; deploy physical back-up devices after an initial incident to ensure an impacted hospital can still provide critical care; and identify high-risk and legacy devices and replace them,” National Cyber Director Cairncross said in the announcement. “President Trump and his entire Administration remain committed to strengthening and modernizing facilities and technology, and deploying innovative care models that bring high-quality health services to rural communities nationwide.”
The announcement did not specify which or how many rural hospitals would be participating in the pilot, though the announcement ceremony was held at Newberry Health Hospital, an independent, 90-bed acute care facility.
On the tech vendor side, the governor’s office listed Microsoft, Cisco, Cyera, Trellix and Zscaler as participating industry partners.
Microsoft President of U.S. Public Sector Industries Chris Barry, in a statement, noted that the tech giant is "proud to bring the experience we’ve gained supporting more than 870 rural hospitals across the country." As of early 2025, over 550 rural hospitals nationwide had received free or low-cost cybersecurity support from Microsoft through a rural health program run in partnership with the Biden administration and national provider groups.
Bill Thorn, public sector chief technology officer at cybersecurity firm Trellix, said that it would bring agentic AI capabilities to the program that will help automate detection and response. Another vendor, Abnormal AI, said it also plans to lend hospitals its automated Behavioral Security Platform, which protects against phishing attempts, as part of the program.