What is SCADA?

SCADA, as explained by the article stands for, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADA is basically a control system that allows for precise processes to be performed while being monitored to make sure that everything is working properly. SCADA is used to maintain industrial processes such as, utilities like electricity and water, manufacturing, oil and gas, transportation, and many more industrial aspects. With SCADA being very malleable and applicable to a multitude of different industries, it is critical for ensuring efficiency and safety through all of these different operations. One thing that is commonly used with SCADA is HMI or in other words, Human-Machine Interface. Basically what the Human Machine Interface does is it provides a visual representation for these different operations and gives the ability for a person to monitor and control processes manually. The user friendly interface is able to simplify complex operations, which allow for less experienced workers to perform tasks with it. HMI is important because being able to have human oversight over your systems is a great asset because technology is not always perfect, having a human to fix a few of the issues go a long way. According to the article that was presented to me, SCADA seems to have possible security issues, because they could be potential targets for cyberwarfare. While SCADA is used for a lot of the parts of our daily lives, it still has potential security risks. It is often falsely believed that SCADA networks are untouchable because they are disconnected from the internet, but that is far from the case. The article states that scada vendors are currently developing a industrial VPN and firewalls as a way to protect SCADA from cyber threats. This is important because it adds another layer of protection over a grandly used system that is important throughout our day to day lives.


Article : http://www.scadasystems.net