RuggedCom Comments on FERC Approval of New Reliability Standards for Cyber Security

RuggedCom Inc. commented on the Jan. 17 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval of the NERC-CIP standards for cyber security.

FERC has approved eight new mandatory critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability standards to protect the nation’s bulk power system against potential disruptions from cyber security breaches. These reliability standards were developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corp., which FERC has designated as the electric reliability organization (ERO). According to FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher, this is the first set of mandatory and enforceable reliability standards that address cyber security concerns on the bulk power system in the United States.

“Mandatory and enforceable NERC-CIP compliance deadlines are forcing electric power companies to ensure the most critical elements of their systems meet stringent security requirements,” said Marzio Pozzuoli, president and CEO of RuggedCom. “We have been closely monitoring the development of these standards and we have adopted and developed our solutions to specifically address them”.

RuggedCom technology solutions that help utilities comply with the NERC-CIP standards include:

• RuggedRouter: Substation hardened network router with integrated router/firewall/VPN features that is used to provide an electronic security perimeter around critical cyber assets
• RuggedSwitch: Substation hardened Ethernet switches with integrated security features to secure local area networks
• RuggedCom Gauntlet: Enterprise grade application software solution that provides secure user access to critical cyber assets and extensive NERC-CIP reporting tools and audit trails

RuggedCom is committed to being the industry leader in providing complete cyber security solutions and other technology products for the electric utility industry. RuggedCom continuously monitors technology and regulatory developments in order to provide up-to-date and value-added communications solutions for our customers.