SecurityWorldMarket

19/11/2022

New guide helps utility companies on security system NERC regs

Montreal, Canada

Genetec Inc. has published a guide for utility companies on how to select a security system that supports compliance with the Critical Infrastructure Protection plan (CIP) of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

NERC standards are aimed at regulating, enforcing, monitoring and managing the security of the Bulk Electric System (BES) in North America. The Genetec handy guide includes a detailed description of the many sections of the standard and advice thereon, including an excerpt of a subset as presented below:

CIP-002-5.1a: Cyber security – management controls. The goal is to categorise different BES Cyber Systems based on potential impact levels to better understand how to manage vulnerabilities and protect assets while regularly maintaining and reviewing them. Look for a security system that can provide an up-to-date breakdown of all connected devices and their statuses, to simplify the review process and quickly identify any that require immediate attention.

CIP-005-6: Cyber security - electronic security perimeter(s). This standard aims to secure access to BES Cyber Systems by keeping critical assets within a designated electronic security perimeter and closely monitoring them in case of suspicious activity. Organisations should ensure all security systems connected to the network infrastructure require secure authentication, encrypted communications, and users that have role-based permissions to access critical assets. Make sure an activity trail report of access is available to simplify investigations/audits.

CIP-008-6: Cyber security – incident reporting and response planning. To comply, put in place procedures to identify, classify, and respond to cybersecurity incidents and keep complete records of the incident and management process to report to the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) for forensic analysis. A centralised security system that keeps a complete log of network activity and access, as well as a full history of the asset configuration data, will simplify investigation and recovery when required. Utilities should look for technology partners that can provide emergency support in case of a catastrophic system failure or cyber attacks.

CIP-013-1: Cyber security – supply chain risk management. Utilities should aim to develop a plan to identify and assess risk to BES posed by vendor products or services. It’s important to ensure all critical vendors that are supporting the smooth functioning of the BES have clear cyber security guidelines in place that will not put the BES at risk. Ensure system providers do not have access to your system by default without consent, particularly in system-to-system remote access. Here are six questions to ask vendors to better manage supply chain risk.



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