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The SCADA or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system is an ICS (industrial control systems). The SCADA are the centralized systems that can control and monitor entire or large areas of critical infrastructure processes. In this paper I will be explaining about the vulnerabilities associated with critical infrastructure systems and how the SCADA system can help mitigate these vulnerabilities.
Critical Infrastructure
Critical Infrastructure is described as any system or assets no matter if physical or virtual that plays a vital role in the everyday way of life in the United States that if destroyed could cause a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters. Due to the fast-growing digitalization of the world and on our infrastructure and the growing use of third-party services this has caused an increase in vulnerabilities and attacks. Vulnerabilities can also be caused by natural disasters, accidental or technical, and human-caused with the implications of the right policies and technologies these vulnerabilities can be mitigated.
SCADA Applications for Mitigating Risks
SCADA can help with the mitigation of the many vulnerabilities that our critical infrastructure face. With SCADA’s capability to monitor and controlling equipment and resources this can provide organizations with the ability to better secure their systems. A SCADA system consists of a supervisory computer as well as many other devices, one of which are programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and remote transport units (RTUs). Both the PLC and the RTU participate in the local management of more specific sub-processes. PLCs have sensors and actuators that receive commands from and send information to other components of the SCADA system. PLCs and RTUs connected to SCADA systems collect data to help plant supervisors make critical decisions based on real-time information. To mitigate human error or vulnerabilities supervisors can simply view the Human Machine Interface (HMI), which displays the distinct functions and data elements of the SCADA system for human viewing and control.
Conclusion
Advances in our technology have helped us create the infrastructure we depend on, but for the same reasons, the same technology can be used to disrupt our infrastructure. The SCADA system can provide help and guidance on how mitigate many different vulnerabilities with our critical infrastructure. With the SCADA’s many capabilities organizations can use them to mitigate the many vulnerabilities they could face.
Resources:
Editor, CSRC Content. “Critical Infrastructure – Glossary | CSRC.” Csrc.nist.gov, csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/critical_infrastructure.
Labus, Helga. “The Massive Impact of Vulnerabilities in Critical Infrastructure.” Help Net Security, 15 Mar. 2022, www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/15/critical-infrastructure-security/#:~:text=People%20could%20be%20delayed%20in.
“SCADA Systems.” Google Docs, docs.google.com/document/d/1DvxnWUSLe27H5u8A6yyIS9Qz7BVt_8p2WeNHctGVboY/edit. Accessed 17 Mar. 2023.
Fouda, Hany. Role of SCADA in Securing Critical Infrastructure | Waterworld. 1 Apr. 2005, https://www.waterworld.com/home/article/16190328/role-of-scada-in-securing-critical-infrastructure. “One Flaw Too Many: Vulnerabilities in SCADA Systems.” One Flaw Too Many: Vulnerabilities in SCADA Systems – Security News – Trend Micro PH, 16 Dec. 2019, https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/ph/security/news/vulnerabilities-and-exploits/one-flaw-too-many-vulnerabilities-in-scada-systems.