A Brief Guide to the Evolution of NERC CIP Standards

History and technology move faster than ever before, especially when major events happen that push development into new and better paths. Electricity powers the world, and the industries that regulate and manage it need to comply with standards and best practices.

With most processes now available online, companies need extra protection from cyberattacks, creating a new need to develop specialized rules and guidelines to prevent issues. This brief guide to the evolution of NERC CIP standards will tell you how and why it has changed over time.

NERC Partnered With CIP

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) manages electricity, and with the development in technology and the internet, it was necessary to add security. The NERC CIP duo comes from the need to combine reliability and safety all in one. Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) is not only a cybersecurity practice for industries managing electricity; it is for everyone who uses electricity and could benefit from defending their information online.

With time, more industries join and comply with best practices to defend themselves, and processes and strategies need to upgrade. Online attacks to steal information are a common practice, especially with internet access and information available and accessible from almost anywhere.

CIP Categories

Different industries require different levels of protection, which is why CIP keeps developing new and better ways to prevent attacks. There is a list of around 12 different programs that target different sectors online, from management control to personnel training and best practices.

It is important to know how to use software that manages important data and the different levels of restrictions that these have. For a business or industry to stay protected and functional, they need to meet NERC CIP compliance requirements, ensuring that industries have the right level of protection while applying rules and regulations.

The Future of NERC CIP

When an industry is attacked, CIP has the responsibility and duty to analyze this event to improve and check their best practices. Attacks and techniques evolve, trying to find the weakest spots in a wall to breach information and important data. Criminals have ways of finding what they need at the right time, so it is always best to stay protected.

New problems require better solutions, which is one of the main goals the cybersecurity industry is working on. Updates include new language around security measures, training, supply chain, and media events. To understand the evolution of NERC CIP standards, it is necessary to analyze current problems for future solutions with informed decisions.