White Paper Provides Understanding of Physical Security Standards
Oct. 1, 2008
A new white paper on understanding the physical security requirements set forth by the Washington, D.C.-based Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), also in Washington, D.C., has been released. The two organizations govern the nation's energy industry and ensure the reliability of the U.S. and Canadian bulk electric power systems, respectively.
In 2007, the FERC granted the NERC the authority to enforce reliability standards on companies and individuals involved in the use, ownership, and/or operation of the North American power grid, and make compliance with those standards mandatory. Several of these standards focus specifically on the security of physical assets and electronic data related to the power grid, as well as to public utility generation and delivery systems.
Individuals and organizations responsible for security at facilities that full under FERC and NERC jurisdiction need to understand what the reliability standards are and how they relate to security, and whether their current security initiatives ensure compliance with the standards. The white paper examines the FERC and NERC standards that focus specifically on access control, discuss the risks inherent in traditional security measures designed to protect physical plants and electronic data, and offer special security solutions that help ensure compliance with the reliability standards through access control and tracking.
