On July 21, prompted by cyberattacks highlighting cyber system vulnerabilities that may be exploited to attack the operation and maintenance of interconnected networks, FERC sought comment from industry participants on possible modifications to the CIP Reliability Standards that could address the cybersecurity of control centers used to monitor and control the BES in real time.
FERC, CFTC, and State Energy Law Developments
The electric utility industry has spent vast amounts of money on cybersecurity, an investment that has steadily escalated since the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards became effective in 2008.
“A cyber incident is not the time to be creating emergency procedures or considering for the first time how best to respond.” — US Department of Justice The dramatic increase in the scale and sophistication of some recent cyber breaches has seen the collapse of traditional disaster-recovery practices, thus increasing legal and regulatory exposure.
Cyber attacks are increasingly becoming a regular part of an electric utility’s day-to-day business risks.
Energy partner Stephen M. Spina will speak at Law Seminars International’s two-day conference, Developing Transmission in the Northeast.
On August 12, 2013, FERC issued an order extending the deadline for responsible entities to comply with the Version 4 Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards.
According to news reports , President Obama has signed a directive to guide the actions of federal agencies in responding to cyber threats that explicitly permits actions outside government networks.
At FERC’s open meeting on April 19, 2012, FERC approved several orders addressing core aspects of Reliability Standards compliance, including cybersecurity Reliability Standards, compliance registration, and contingency planning issues.
Please join us for an all-day conference addressing strategies and trends in cyber risk and cybersecurity for the nation's energy infrastructure.
On July 19, 2011, following a lengthy consideration of the smart grid interoperability standards proposed By the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), FERC terminated its consideration of the five “families” of proposed interoperability standards , concluding that there was a lack of consensus regarding the standards.
