The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) maintains comprehensive reliability standards that define requirements for planning and operating the bulk electric system (BES). Among these are the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Cyber Security Standards, which specify a minimum set of controls and processes for power generation and transmission companies to follow to ensure...

There isn’t an industry that hasn’t been affected by cyber threats, and the broadcast industry is no exception. In April 2015, France’s TV5Monde was attacked, resulting in eleven of its channels going dark and its social media outlets commandeered to display pro-Islamic State messages. This was preceded by an attack on WBOC in Salisbury, Maryland, where their Twitter account and website were...

North American electric utility companies constantly balance the need to be audit-ready for NERC CIP compliance against their top priority: ensuring the reliability of the bulk electric system. NERC CIP compliance, especially when approached using manual methods, is complex, time-consuming, and prone to human error. Further, NERC CIP requirements often infer security skill sets beyond those of...