Power Equipment and Cabling PE-9
Physical and Environmental Protection · Moderate baseline ✗ Not implemented
Status — program-wide
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Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5, Physical and Environmental Protection family NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5. The baseline shows the lowest SP 800-53B baseline (Low / Moderate / High) this control appears in NIST SP 800-53B.
Control guide — plain-English, per NIST SP 800-53
PE-9 (Power Equipment and Cabling) is about protecting the power gear and power cables that feed the system — the power supply, the surge protector or power distribution unit, and the cords — from damage and destruction. The idea is simple: if the power path is fragile, the server is fragile. It is a Moderate-baseline Physical and Environmental Protection control.
What good looks like
- Route and secure power cables so they cannot be tripped over, pinched, or yanked — use cable ties, a rack, or trunking.
- Put the server on a surge protector or PDU (Power Distribution Unit — a strip that feeds power and, on managed units, monitors it), not a bare wall socket.
- Keep power gear where it will not be kicked, soaked, or overheated, and away from foot traffic.
- Label the cords so the server’s feed is not unplugged by mistake.
- For higher tiers, physically separated redundant power paths remove a single point of failure (enhancement PE-9(1)).
Framework mapping
- NIST CSF 2.0 — PR.IR-02 — The organization’s technology assets are protected from environmental threats
How to move it toward Implemented
- Photograph and document the power path: wall to surge protector/PDU to the server’s power supply, noting how the cables are secured.
- Move the server onto a surge protector or PDU if it sits on a bare socket, and dress and tie the cables so they are strain-relieved and out of the walkway.
- Label the server’s power cord at both ends so it is not pulled by accident.
- Attach those photos and the power-path note as hardening evidence on the asset, naming
PE-9in the Requirement field — that moves it from ‘To assess’ toward ‘Completed’.