NERC CIP standards govern cybersecurity for the North American bulk electric system. ThreeShield's CISSP/CISA team has critical infrastructure audit experience and delivers NERC CIP assessments for utilities, pipeline operators, and energy sector organizations.
NERC CIP is a set of mandatory standards for organizations that own or operate components of the North American bulk electric system (BES). Compliance is enforced by NERC and regional entities with significant financial penalties for violations.
Identify and categorize BES Cyber Systems based on impact level (High, Medium, Low). This scoping step determines which CIP standards apply to each asset.
Security management controls, personnel & training, electronic security perimeters, physical security, systems security management, and incident reporting.
Documented, tested incident response plans and recovery plans for BES Cyber Systems. Testing must be documented.
Configuration change management, vulnerability management, and protection of BES Cyber System information.
Risk management plan for vendor/supply chain risks for high and medium impact BES Cyber Systems. Increasingly important given software supply chain attacks.
Physical security for transmission stations and substations that could cause instability or widespread outages if compromised.
NERC CIP violations carry penalties of up to USD $1 million per violation per day. Violations are publicly disclosed. ThreeShield's assessment methodology identifies compliance gaps before regulators or auditors do.
Yes. NERC CIP applies to owners and operators of the bulk electric system in both the US and Canada. Canadian utilities operating in interconnected systems with the US BES are subject to NERC CIP standards and are audited by their applicable regional entity (e.g., NPCC, MRO, WECC).
Yes - Bill C-8 (Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act) in Canada imposes obligations on federally regulated critical infrastructure, including electricity, that overlap with NERC CIP in many areas. ThreeShield maps your NERC CIP compliance to CCSPA requirements simultaneously, avoiding duplicate effort.
Pipelines are not subject to NERC CIP (which is electricity-specific), but are subject to Canada Energy Regulator (CER) cybersecurity requirements and Bill C-8 CCSPA. ThreeShield covers both. See our Oil & Gas Security and Bill C-8 pages for details.
ThreeShield's CISSP/CISA team delivers NERC CIP gap assessments identifying violations and near-violations before your next audit. Choose your engagement level.
Book a Scoping CallDIY · Supported · Done-for-You · All engagement models available
These are the three NERC CIP standards where organizations most often need outside expertise.
NERC CIP-004 requires cybersecurity awareness training for all personnel with access to BES Cyber Systems, and personnel risk assessment (background checks) before granting access. ThreeShield delivers CIP-004 compliant training programs with documentation packages suitable for NERC examination.
See Training ProgramsCIP-005 requires that all Electronic Security Perimeters protecting BES Cyber Systems are identified, documented, and controlled. ThreeShield delivers CIP-005 vulnerability assessments - reviewing your ESP documentation, access control configuration, remote access management, and dial-up access controls to identify gaps before your next examination.
Book CIP-005 AssessmentCIP-007 covers ports and services management, security patch management, malicious code prevention, security event monitoring, and system access control. ThreeShield conducts CIP-007 vulnerability assessments including patch compliance review across BES Cyber Systems - often the most time-consuming and complex NERC CIP compliance activity.
Book CIP-007 AssessmentWhether you have a strong internal team or need everything handled end-to-end, ThreeShield meets you where you are.
For lean IT teams and cost-conscious organizations with internal security capacity
For MSPs, IT teams with some security resources, and organizations that need expert guidance but retain internal capacity
For organizations that want full compliance delivery without managing the process internally