Critical infrastructure is everywhere in our society, and as described, it is an undeniably
crucial part of the modern age that ensures production and business operations move smoothly
and efficiently. However important these infrastructures are, though, there are various
vulnerabilities that they constantly face that involve environment or production errors. These
vulnerabilities threaten to slow or even halt operations of vital facilities in society such as
hospitals, banks, factories, transportation and many more. This is where SCADA systems come
in.
SCADA stands for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, and it refers to the ICS
(Industrial Control Systems) that are put in place to control critical infrastructure, facility-based
and/or industrial processes. (SCADA Systems, 2024) Processes all over the world implement
SCADA or similar systems to collect process data and make it easy for workers and other
employees to interact with the multitude of control devices involved. The hardware of SCADA is
categorized into three different components. Field devices, which are directly involved with the
processes of gathering data that the infrastructure organization wants, HMIs or GUIs, which allow
users to access data that a field device has collected, and PLCs and/or RTUs, which are
microcomputers that interact with field devices and HMIs to make sure that the collected data is
sent to the organization. (SOPHOS, n.d.)
The reason that SCADA systems help strengthen critical infrastructure organizations is
because, based on the type, the components are stress-tested thoroughly to ensure that they
withstand especially high or low temperature, high-voltage, and high-vibration conditions.
(SCADA Systems, 2024) They are as disaster-proof as possible to lower system failure costs.
SCADA systems also include redundant hardware. This is done to increase reliability and
anticipate part failures, allowing for processes to continue while maintenance is performed on the
downed part(s), and thus, another way to reduce downtime and costs. (SCADA Systems, 2024)
In conclusion, it’s important to protect the critical infrastructures that keep our lives
running smoothly behind the scenes. With SCADA systems, a big step is taken toward that
mission in the right direction. Surely the developers and vendors behind SCADA will continue
to advance and improve it to better the strength of critical infrastructure everywhere.

References:
SCADA Systems. (2024). SCADA systems. https://www.scadasystems.net/ (SCADA Systems,
2024)
SOPHOS. (n.d.). What is Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)? SOPHOS.com.
Retrieved October 31, 2024, from https://www.sophos.com/en-us/cybersecurity-explained/scada-
network-security (SOPHOS, n.d.)