Meeting NERC-CIP requirements can feel like a check box compliance exercise. Considering the myriad responsibilities utility operators face, that’s understandable. However, if we revisit the core purpose of NERC-CIP, remembering that this was created “by the industry, for the industry” (not imposed by an outside entity), we can reframe our mindset from one of compliance to one where we leverage NERC-CIP to systematically improve the reliability and security of our critical infrastructure.

We are pleased to welcome special guest Joy Ditto in our upcoming webinar “Revisiting the Fundamental Mission of NERC-CIP: Improving Reliability & Security” as we recalibrate and get to the heart of what NERC-CIP is all about, why it exists, and how we can use it to our advantage against real-world threats.

In this session, we’ll take a step back from the doldrums of day-to-day compliance tasks and reframe how practitioners consider NERC and the CIP requirements  - reviewing their origin, evolution over time, and what we anticipate for the future. We'll also discuss how to approach the security controls not as check boxes, but with the depth and determination to actually improve security posture.

Be sure to join this webinar for:

• A refreshed understanding of the fundamental mission of NERC-CIP
• Strategies to approach NERC-CIP requirements not as mere compliance checkboxes, but as technical guidance for enhancing security posture
• Guidance on implementing proper fundamentals and building trong understanding of your cyber environment as the foundation for an effective security program
• An opportunity to engage with our special guest Joy Ditto

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About our speakers:

Joy Ditto is a renowned industry leader and consultant, with extensive experience in the energy sector, encompassing cyber and physical security, resilience, broadband, and clean energy development. She has served as the President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA), led pivotal strategic engagements with the federal government, spanning from Congress to various agencies, has testified before the U.S. Senate and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and has appeared on Bloomberg Radio, XM Satellite Radio, the White House Chronicles, NPR, RFD TV, among others.

She will be joined by Industrial Defender’s CTO, Aaron Crow, to further unpack the technical aspects of leveraging the CIP controls for improving security, beyond compliance. Aaron has over 25 years’ experience working in IT and cybersecurity, with more than 15 of those focused on critical infrastructure and power utilities. While working at Ernst & Young, he worked hands-on to secure industrial environments at energy and utility organizations, building out multiple, large scale OT cybersecurity programs that reached across hundreds of sites, multiple states and different entities. Aaron brings valuable industry knowledge from his time as an asset owner and as a consultant advising and guiding large multiyear programs.