Supervisor control and data acquisition systems play an important role in controlling
infrastructure processes like water treatment and power generation. The importance of these
systems and the responsibilities they have mean that they need to be safe and secure from
outside influences. Like every other piece of technology in this day and age, SCADA systems are
not impenetrable and have known vulnerabilities.

Security Threats

Security is very important when you have technology that deals with power generation. Water
treatment, and even traffic lights. If an intruder were to get into the system, they could cause
mayhem by disrupting these critical infrastructure systems. There are many people out there that
would want to get into these systems and there are plenty of ways for them to do it. Critical
infrastructure systems can be infected with Malware, giving hackers or terrorists access to
systems they should never get their hands on. Social Engineering and insider threats are
dangerous threats because humans can make mistakes, employees can be unhappy with their
working conditions and lash out, or someone can be tricked into giving someone access to the
system.

Where do SCADA systems come into play?

SCADA systems are used by critical infrastructure organizations to access data and control key
components without having to go to the physical location. This outside monitoring means that if
someone were to get into a critical infrastructure system, the SCADA system would be able to
show that something is not right and do its programmable “alert” task by sounding alarms and
stopping critical machinery. This extra step in security means that even if someone were to get
into something as dangerous as a critical infrastructure system, there would be more security
measures in place that would not let them achieve the goal they desire.

Conclusion

In conclusion, critical infrastructure systems are needed for our day to day life and that means
they need to be protected. If something were to go wrong it could not only be an inconvenience
but a lot of people could potentially be hurt or killed. SCADA systems are the extra security
measure that make it a lot harder for intruders to manipulate critical systems.

References

(n.d.). SCADA Systems – SCADA Systems. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from
http://www.scadasystems.net/
Using SCADA to Protect Critical Infrastructure and Systems | cyberpaul. (2020, December 6). Old
Dominion University WordPress. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from
https://sites.wp.odu.edu/cyberpaul/2020/12/06/using-scada-to-protect-critical-infrastructur
e-and-systems/