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Cooper Power Systems field-proven NER CIP compliant Substation and Enterprise Solutions.

With utilities in the process of implementing remote access to substation devices, security becomes an increasingly important facet of substation engineering, automation and integration.

In North America, NERC's CIP standards for security are mandatory. This profoundly alters how substation devices and communication networks are operated and protected. Read more about NERC.

Cooper Power System provides integrated, operational business solutions that help utilities meet NERC CIP requirements.

Moreover, the Cooper Power Systems product protects your substation devices both at the substation level and at the enterprise level, so losing the link to the corporate LAN/WAN doest not mean losing secure access to substation devices.

Read on:

• Security at the substation and at the enterprise level
• Losing the corporate network should not mean losing access to devices
• Go beyond secure device access
• Implement cyber security best practices
• Improve reliability along with security
• Read the article: Securing Critical Cyber Assets with Cooper Power Systems' Products

Secure Substation Devices without Compromising Access

Widespread access to substation IEDs and their data can become an important security risk if it is compromised. On the other hand, restricting access to SCADA only deprives the utility from the greatest benefits of IED integration.

There must be a balance between securing access to IEDs and distributing the data to all personnel that benefit from it. The Cooper Power Systems' product provides this balance:

• Cybectec SMP Gateways and Passthrough Manager secure remote IED access, in a NERC CIP-compliant manner: Users are authenticated and monitored, device passwords are hidden from users and detailed logs are kept
• SMP Gateways solve all protocol issues between control centers and substation devices: the SMP Gateway's powerful protocol translation features ensures that no device is stranded outside the network

Cooper Power Systems' SMP Gateways and IED Manager Suite are the perfect combination to ensure secure access to substation IEDs and their data

Losing Access to the Corporate Network should not mean Losing Secure Access to Substation Devices

The Cooper Power Systems product is the only solution to offer secure access to substation IEDs both at the substation level and at the enterprise level. This means that even if the enterprise-level secure link is down, maintenance and operations personnel can still access their substation devices securely. The Cybectec SMP Gateway guards the entrance to the substation's electronic security perimeter.

The Cooper Power Systems product creates an intelligent information network that distributes critical data across your enterprise:

• From the corporate network, Passthrough Manager provides a NERC CIP compliant enterprise-level single point of access to substation IEDs. Authorized users go through the Passthrough Server to connect to the IEDs and extract relevant data, while the server keeps detailed session and usage logs
• At the substation, the SMP Gateway also provides a NERC CIP-compliant substation-level single point of access to IEDs. Only authorized users can access substation devices, and their sessions are logged

When used together, IED Manager Suite and the SMP Gateway ensure secure access to substation IEDs at all times, even when connection to the enterprise security server is lost.

Beyond Secure Remote Access to IEDs: Automated Data Distribution

Innovative utilities will go beyond simply securing access to remote IEDs. They choose to automate the distribution of data to users.

Utilities connect the SMP Gateway to all IEDs in the substation, regardless of protocol or connection type. The SMP Gateway supports all serial, TCP/IP and dial-up connections to IEDs. Operations, protection and maintenance personnel can then passthrough to all their substation IEDs and send commands as if they were connected.

The SMP Gateway's features bring substation integration to another lever: automated data distribution. The SMP Gateway can push event files data to the SCADA or any other control system, so that utilities are warned of a potential problem as it happens.

When connecting the Event Manager to SMP Gateways, utilities cut down their response times event more: Event Manager will email or page personnel when an event is detected on a protective relay. Within minutes of the event occurring, utilities can diagnose the problem and restore service.

For one customer, this has resulted in a 25% improvement of SAIDI / SAIFI indices.

Cooper Power Sybstems' SMP Gateways and IED Manager Suite send the right data, to the right person, at the right time.

Cyber Security Best Practices

Securing access to electronic devices is not a new business. In fact, utilities' IT professionals have been doing just that on their corporate LANs and WANs for years.

Security is not a new concern for the team behind Cooper Power Systems' products either. The SMP Gateway was introduced with strong security features long before the NERC CIP standards became mandatory.

In the substation, the SMP Gateway acts as the access point to all IEDs connected to it. This simplifies communications architecture: all links from the SMP Gateway to IEDs are already secured by the SMP Gateway itself.

At the enterprise level, IED Manager Suite simplifies security management by leveraging the existing infrastructure to authenticate and authorize users. Users only need to sign on to their workstations and need not enter any other password to access IEDs or data. The Security Server handles all security tasks automatically.

The Cooper Power Systems' product uses security best practices to ensure NERC CIP compliance:

Centralized management:

• Implement a global system for substation device access
• Review user accesses periodically from a single system
• Specify operations that users can perform with Cooper Power Systems' products

Comprehensive access control:

• Individual user accounts
• Complex passwords
• Group permissions
• Account lockout
• Device passwords hidden from users
• Complete activity and session logs

Linked to the existing security infrastructure:

• Users authentication via the standard corporate login credentials
• Support for any available two-factor authentication system (Active Directory and RSA SecurID)

Strong protection against hackers:

• SSL encryption
• VPN
• Firewall
• Local security database
  

Cooper Power Products' products are NERC CIP-compliant by design: they were developed to be secure from the start.

Improved Reliability through Improved Security

Implementing NERC CIP compliance at a utility often means additions and upgrades to existing devices, especially in the substation. Why not use this opportunity to add devices that can do more than secure access to substation IEDs?

With the SMP Gateway and IED Manager Suite, utilities go beyond NERC CIP compliance: they take advantage of a solution that helps them decrease response times, diagnose faults faster and improve their power network's overall reliability and health.

Moreover, SMP Gateways do not depend on a constant link to the corporate network: they remain secure and accessible if the link to the corporate WAN is down, so substation IEDs are always available, always secure.

SMP Gateways also feature comprehensive redundancy support, to offer even higher availability for critical assets.

Leverage compliance efforts to improve reliability with our products.

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For more information on how Cooper Power Systems' products line put you on the path to NERC CIP compliance, request our white paper.