What Is NERC Compliance?
The North American Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) reliability standards are a mandatory set of requirements for organizations working within the bulk electric system (BES) to protect the safety and reliability of critical infrastructure. Fortra's Tripwire is here to serve as your NERC CIP compliance ally, with solutions that automate continuous compliance and improve the audit process.
Importance of NERC Compliance
Complying with NERC CIP is about much more than avoiding audit failures and their associated costs; it's also about ensuring the safety and reliability of the power grids your community depends on. Adhering to NERC CIP helps prevent dangerous outages and ensures consistent power for everyone. Automated solutions for NERC CIP enforcement streamline this critical responsibility.
Simplify your compliance tasks and pass your next audit faster with Tripwire NERC compliance software.
What Are NERC CIP Compliance Standards?
NERC Reliability Standards for Critical Infrastructure Protection
How to Maintain NERC Compliance
Maintaining compliance with NERC CIP is a complex process best managed using an automated solution that continuously enforces built-in policies, providing detailed documentation and reporting to simplify the audit process. Solutions with continuous monitoring and alerting capabilities empower you to act swiftly to return your systems to a trusted and compliant state as soon as unwanted changes occur.
NERC Certification
System operators must obtain NERC certification to operate within the North American bulk power system (BPS). The System Operator Certification & Credential Maintenance Program tests prospective system operators on their knowledge of necessary job stills, emergency response protocols, and proficiency with the NERC Reliability Standards. Once the exams are complete, certification lasts three years. To maintain their credentials after that three-year period, operators are required to complete CEH (continuing education hours) to keep their knowledge up to date.
Benefits of Tripwire NERC CIP Compliance Software
Award-winning multi-policy management. Comply with NERC CIP, PCI DSS, and other requirements simultaneously. Apply policies for best practice frameworks like the CIS Critical Security Controls and MITRE ATT&CK framework, and create customized policies.
Award-winning multi-policy management. Comply with NERC CIP, PCI DSS, and other requirements simultaneously. Apply policies for best practice frameworks like the CIS Critical Security Controls and MITRE ATT&CK framework, and create customized policies.
Customizable, audit-ready reporting makes for a smoother compliance audit process and helps you avoid non-compliance fines.
Customizable, audit-ready reporting makes for a smoother compliance audit process and helps you avoid non-compliance fines.
Integration with your existing solutions: Tripwire integrates with change management ticketing systems, GRC, CMDB, ITSM, SIEM, and more.
Integration with your existing solutions: Tripwire integrates with change management ticketing systems, GRC, CMDB, ITSM, SIEM, and more.
Broad support across your information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) infrastructures.
Broad support across your information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) infrastructures.
Why Choose Tripwire for NERC Compliance?
NERC compliance doesn’t have to be overwhelming — not if you rely on Tripwire products and our cumulative experience helping over 100 electric utilities achieve, maintain, and prove automated NERC compliance.
Accelerate Your Compliance
Automate the Toughest Tasks
Simplify Proof of Compliance
Cover 23 of 44 NERC CIP Requirements
Leverage Powerful Integrations
Tripwire Solutions for NERC CIP Compliance
Tripwire Enterprise
Tripwire® Enterprise pairs the industry’s most respected FIM with security configuration management (SCM) to provide real-time change intelligence and threat detection. For the compliance officer, it delivers proactive system hardening and automated compliance enforcement—resulting in a reduction of audit cycles and cost.
- Real-time change detection
- Automated compliance
- Extensive integrations
Tripwire State Analyzer
Tripwire State Analyzer ensures the compliance and security of your network by monitoring the system against lists of what’s allowed to run. Aside from securing your network, the Tripwire State Analyzer’s automated report generation will save you time on preparing for audits and money by reducing findings within those audits.
- Defines records in centralized allowlist configuration files
- Automates the validation of detected system configurations against your allowlist
- Generates detailed system configuration reports
What Industrial Customers Are Saying About Tripwire
We asked energy and utilities customers about the benefits they've seen in their organizations after deploying Tripwire solutions. Here's what they had to say.
Case Studies
WFEC Case Study
Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC) is a U.S. electric generation and transmission cooperative. Along with the need for NERC CIP compliance and FIM, WFEC needed a solution that would identify indicators of compromise and monitor for suspicious activity without causing service interruption. According to WFEC, “Tripwire is not resource-intensive the way anti-virus is. From my perspective, Tripwire does more than traditional antivirus does. It gives you more insight.” Learn more >
Electric Utility Case Study
This power utility, like most, has multiple installs of physical access control systems (PACS) as well as primary and backup Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. Their cybersecurity specialist spends most days completing the tasks necessary to maintain SCADA system security and NERC CIP compliance. They now use Tripwire LogCenter® to generate alarms that alert system dispatchers by internal email if any network device fails to generate a log within a specific, customizable timeframe.
Navigating Industrial Cybersecurity: A Field Guide
Industrial organizations are facing the digital convergence of their IT and OT environments and need robust compliance management and risk management programs that cover both sides of the organization to protect cyber assets.
Download this free ebook to learn about industrial control system (ICS) basics, the current threat landscape, compliance frameworks, and creating an action plan based on best practices.
Want to Learn More?
Let Tripwire solve your biggest security and NERC-CIP compliance challenges. Simply request a demo to get started.