Part 6 - Ctrl+Alt+Comply: Cloud Services and CIP Standards – The Path Forward
Critical infrastructure in the cloud? Across this webinar series we have examined a wide variety of perspectives on the topic of Industrial Control System (ICS) and cloud integration. While this is a topic of growing concern across every critical infrastructure sector in the world, it is of particular interest and concern within the regulated bulk power sector in North America. With the NERC CIP standards of particular concern and interest this webinar series was launched by an independent group called the Cloud Technology Advisory Group (CTAG). The group consists of a diverse membership representing the NERC regions, asset owners and operators, vendors, consultants, educational institutions, and others with interests in energy security.
The six part webinar series has addressed the various perspectives represented by the CTAG members across five webinars to date:
- Cloud Services and CIP Standards - Introduction
- Cloud Services and CIP Standards - Regulated electric utility perspective
- Cloud Services and CIP Standards - The application provider perspective
- Cloud Services and CIP Standards - Cloud service providers (CSPs)
- Cloud Services and CIP Standards - What are the current compliance challenges?
In this sixth and final webinar in this series, we will hear from presenters on the topic of: Cloud Services and CIP Standards - The path forward. This will be a discussion with the presenters on what opportunities are happening now where the CIP community can work together to help entities understand technologies and requirements they are considering today as well as what activities are happening now to shape the requirements of the future.
Speakers:
Tim Conway serves as the Technical Director of ICS and SCADA programs at SANS, and he is responsible for developing, reviewing, and implementing technical components of the SANS ICS and SCADA product offerings. A recognized leader in CIP operations, he formerly served as the Director of CIP Compliance and Operations Technology at Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), where he was responsible for Operations Technology, NERC CIP Compliance, and the NERC training environments for the operations departments within NIPSCO Electric. Tim is the author and instructor for ICS456: Essentials for NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection and ICS612: ICS Cybersecurity In-Depth courses.
Morgan King is a Senior Technical Advisor, Cybersecurity at WECC where he is in an assist role established to work with registered entities in their security, compliance, and reliability efforts. He has also served as a NERC CIP Auditor for 11 years. Prior to these roles he was a Senior Network Security Administrator for EG&G Defense at the U.S. Army Chemical Weapons Depot, responsible for network security and maintaining DoD DIACAP accreditation.
Steven Keller is a CIP Auditor at SERC Reliability Corporation, where Steven is responsible for maintaining expertise in governance-oriented cyber security functions. Steven also has experience as a Lead Compliance Specialist at Southwest Power Pool and as a Systems Administrator at Acxiom. In previous roles Steven has a diverse professional background, with experience ranging from Financial Analyst to Information System Security Officer. Steven holds a BS degree in Accounting, Computer Information Systems, and Finance from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Kenath Carver is the Director of Compliance Assessments for Texas Reliability Entity, Inc. (Texas RE) with over 15 years of dedicated experience in the reliability and security of critical infrastructure. Mr. Carver directs and oversees all activities of the Compliance Monitoring and Risk Assessment departments responsible for administering the ERO Enterprise Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program, emphasizing monitoring of compliance and internal control assessment with the NERC Reliability Standards (Critical Infrastructure Protection and Operations & Planning) within the Energy Sector (Electricity). Mr. Carver performs and contributes to a significant amount of outreach and collaboration activities at zero cost to the industry and actively participates on many industry working groups and task forces within Texas and the United States.
