This paper will talk about SCADA Systems. SCADA stands for supervisory control and data acquisition. This controls the whole site and is also referred to as the center of the system. This will explain what the SCADA system does and the importance of it.
What is the SCADA System?
The SCADA, or supervisory control and data acquisition, is a control system that is used in the area of critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure includes energy, transportation, clean water, and disaster response. These systems are used in critical infrastructure to help control the systems. Essential parts are RTUs, PLCs, and HMI. The Human Machine Interface(HMI) controls a system by sending data to a human operator. The data that is sent shows a graphical representation of the equipment along with the functionality and ability control to control it from a live feed. The Programmable Logic Controls(PLCs) connect the equipment to the industrial plants, which then sends data to the SCADA Server. The Remote Terminal Units(RTUs) are also connected to equipment and remotely control other components of a database such as a temperature system. All these different components work together to maintain control of the equipment to know when and where something is wrong. This helps to prevent and detect hackers in the systems that may cause damage to it.
How have SCADA Systems improved over time?
The original SCADA systems were developed before the introduction of networks. This made things much more complicated by not having the ability to connect systems and thus made way for the introduction of RTUs to help with the communication between them. The next generation of the system was reliant on networks. They made the communication between systems easier through LAN, however, this lead to an increase of possible security problems. The current generation of these systems now relies on the internet through IPs. Again this made things much more simple but raised security concerns of possible hackers. This leads to the problems today of critical infrastructure protection and the need for cybersecurity.