NERC CIP-015-1 — Cyber Security: Internal Network Security Monitoring

What the authority record establishes

CIP-015-1 requires documented processes for internal network security monitoring of specified high- and medium-impact BES cyber-system environments, including data feeds, anomaly detection, evaluation, and evidence.

Mandatory and enforceable within approved jurisdiction and scope

The exact official title, issuing body, jurisdiction, version or application record, and linked source define the scope of this page. Readers should not transfer the authority's status to a commercial product or infer transaction-, patient-, system-, site-, or organization-specific applicability from this summary.

Why it matters to this market

The standard creates a concrete evidence and operating-model test for network telemetry, anomaly detection, evaluation, escalation, and record retention.

Affected operating stages

• Scope
• Data-Feed Selection
• Detection
• Evaluation
• Action
• Evidence

Capabilities to examine

Passive OT Asset Discovery And Inventory

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for passive OT asset discovery and inventory.

Industrial Protocol Identification And Deep Packet Inspection

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for industrial protocol identification and deep packet inspection.

Topology, Communication, And Dependency Mapping

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for topology, communication, and dependency mapping.

Anomaly And Behavioral Detection

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for anomaly and behavioral detection.

Alert Triage And Investigation Workflow

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for alert triage and investigation workflow.

Packet Capture And Forensic Evidence

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for packet capture and forensic evidence.

Incident Response And Recovery Support

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for incident response and recovery support.

Compliance Mapping And Control Evidence

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for compliance mapping and control evidence.

Affected buyer audiences

• registered entities
• BES cybersecurity teams
• compliance leaders
• network-monitoring teams

Implementation questions

• Which entities, products, populations, transactions, systems, sites, or jurisdictions are actually within scope?
• What is binding, what is guidance, and what is a technical or consensus standard?
• Which publication, adoption, effective, application, transition, and enforcement dates differ?
• Who owns legal, clinical, quality, regulatory, policy, or operational interpretation?
• How will a source revision affect open work and historical decisions?

Interpretation boundary

Only the controlling NERC standard, implementation plan, entity registration, asset classification, and facts determine applicability and compliance.