Recognizing the utility industry’s need to continuously safeguard critical infrastructure and generation assets against evolving cybersecurity threats, Agile Sourcing Partners has joined forces with Synack to deliver Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) solutions to power utilities.
In December 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) with two approaches for public utilities to secure rate incentives for voluntary cybersecurity investments that go above and beyond mandatory Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards.
Under the “NERC CIP Incentives Approach,” utilities would receive incentives for voluntarily applying CIP requirements to safeguard all external routable connectivity to and from low-impact systems to high- or medium-impact systems.
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The “National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Framework Approach” grants incentives to utilities that implement automated and continuous monitoring controls to improve the ability to quickly detect and address new or previously unknown equipment in its network.
“Agile Sourcing Partners and Synack support FERC’s efforts and recognition for the need for power utilities to go beyond the CIP reliability standards,” stated Agile Sourcing Partners CEO Luis Manuel Ramírez. “Our public utilities are prime targets for malicious hackers. Attacks on the power grid and generating assets have the potential to produce widespread infrastructure failures, significantly disrupting the standard and quality of life for the public. Increased cybersecurity controls, such as continuous monitoring and testing to improve the safety and reliability of the grid, simply make sense.”
Jay Kaplan, CEO of Synack added, “Having served mission critical clients like the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Energy (DOE), we’ve seen the tremendous value of a crowdsourced, cyber-offensive capability for the most critically important sectors. Deploying the world’s best ethical hackers to help secure the power grid is simply the best way to stay ahead of the growing threat from cyber criminals and nation-state adversaries.”
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