NERC CIPs: Latest updates on V.4 & 5 (and sympathy for folks building them)

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A few weeks ago I attempted to impart some wisdom on the status of the CIPs. (It remains to be seen whether that was smart.) Now the "Insecurity Culture" blog has an excellent new post, linking you (once you register) to two "open letters" describing in some detail how and why the CIPs are being made.

And while analysts and others grumble about the sporadic output of the Standards Development Team (SDT), the (probably) too many committees, and the cumbersome and confusing approval process, these letters paint a fuller picture of what is really going on. For example:

There are people who think the SDT is a bunch of regulators run amuck, dreaming up one new standard after another just to preserve their jobs. This might be a good criticism, were it not that a) the SDT members are all employees of NERC entities, b) that they aren’t paid for their SDT work, and c) that they all have full-time day jobs they have to do as well .... So why are they starting now to develop a new CIP version that will be a complete revision of the former versions (and thus far more work than even Version 4 was)? The reason is simple: They have to...

I liked that account, and after reading this stuff all the way though, I'm pretty excited to track the SDT's progress with the ambitious Version 5. And amazed to think how much work utilities have ahead of them to meet the Version 4 requirements deadline. Follow this link to the post and look for the cowboy hat.

Digesting the latest on NERC-CIP, our resident security expert Andy Bochman explains why he’s excited to track the Standards Development Team’s progress on the oh-so-ambitious V5.

Smart grid security standards in hurry-up-and-wait mode as 2010 winds down