# What is North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP)?

> North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) refers to a family of mandatory reliability standards addressing security of the Bulk Electric System in North America.

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## Content

The standards impose requirements on registered entities and applicable Bulk Electric System cyber systems, assets, and information according to defined functions, categorization rules, jurisdictional approvals, and effective versions.

The CIP family covers subjects such as asset categorization, management controls, personnel and training, electronic and physical perimeters, system security, incident response, recovery, configuration and vulnerability assessment, information protection, control-center communications, and supply-chain risk management. Requirements, measures, and evidence differ by standard and impact category.

### Key points

- **Determine applicability:** Establish the entity’s registered functions, facilities, Bulk Electric System assets, cyber-system categorization, applicable requirements, exemptions, and jurisdiction-specific effective dates.
- **Operate the program:** Assign accountable roles, implement required controls, retain evidence, manage exceptions, test recovery and response, and track revised standards and implementation plans.
- **Protect reliability:** Coordinate cybersecurity decisions with operational safety and reliability; an urgent security change can create unacceptable grid risk if engineering consequences are ignored.
- **Important limitation:** NERC CIP does not apply to every electricity organization, device, or network, and it is not a complete cybersecurity framework. Meeting applicable requirements does not establish that every material threat or non-Bulk Electric System dependency is controlled.

### Related terms

[Operational technology (OT) security](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/operational-technology-security/>) · [Industrial control system (ICS)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/industrial-control-system/>) · [Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/supervisory-control-and-data-acquisition/>) · [Supply-chain security](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/supply-chain-security/>) · [Cyber resilience](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/cyber-resilience/>)

### Sources

[NERC, Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards](https://www.nerc.com/standards/reliability-standards/cip) · [NERC, Reliability Standards](https://www.nerc.com/standards/reliability-standards) · [U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Electric Reliability](https://www.ferc.gov/electric-reliability)

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