Demetrius Evans
CYSE 200T
March 30th
Professor Duvall
SCADA Systems
BLUF: SCADA systems are used in many different industries today including critical
infrastructure. These systems, while useful, can be major cybersecurity risks if the proper security measures aren’t considered.
What is SCADA?
SCADA systems, also known as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, are industrial control systems used to manage infrastructure, industrial, and facility processes of critical infrastructure (SCADA, 2020). SCADA systems help control everything from air transportation to power generation and primarily act as coordinators in real time processes (SCADA, 2020). SCADA systems are defined as PCSs, or Process Control Systems, which are used to both monitor and control remote and local processes the use the site’s equipment or devices (Ryu et al. 2009). The main benefits of SCADA systems are their ability to increase efficiency, manage complex systems, and increasing reliability, but as time has gone on these systems have become more and more interconnected creating a major cybersecurity risk (Claroty, 2024).
Vulnerabilities of SCADA and Critical Infrastructure While SCADA systems are good tools for managing critical systems, they also come with major security risks. Firstly, many SCADA systems were designed and implemented decades ago meaning that they run on legacy software that was created for ease of access without any thought regarding security (Claroty, 2024).
Authentication is missing from many of these systems, meaning unauthorized access,
by hackers or otherwise, is a major concern (SCADA, 2020).
SCADA systems, falling under the category of OT rather than IT, have the
downside that many of the common IT security tools cannot be used due to the specific
hardware used by SCADA systems and the chance that these tools would interfere with
the effectiveness of the systems (Claroty, 2024). The last and biggest security concern
for SCADA systems is remote access. SCADA systems lack proper security when it
comes to remote access, with internal and third-parties sometimes needing to access
these systems remotely for maintenance or other issues, this creates new points of
entry for attackers (Claroty, 2024).
Best Protections for SCADA Systems
While SCADA systems have many vulnerabilities to exploit, leading experts in cybersecurity and critical infrastructure systems are constantly working on ways to make these systems more secure. The first step, generally, of securing these systems is increasing visibility and taking inventory and all devices, assets, and systems in the given critical infrastructure environment (Claroty, 2024). Having an inventory of assets allows for vulnerabilities to be discovered and monitored so that administrators can track threats and know where they will be coming from (Claroty, 2024). Integrating firewalls, VPNs, and physical security around hardware are also essential steps in reducing threat vectors (SCADA, 2020). VPNs and firewalls can make remote access more secure and prevent third parties from accessing data sent through remote access preventing malicious code from infecting the systems (SCADA, 2020). Physical security is essential, as if threat actors are able to access the physical hardware the entire system can be compromised (Brown, 2020). Customized security measures may also be necessary as traditional tools such as vulnerability scanners or IDSs (Intrusion Detection System) could interfere with the effectiveness of the SCADA system (Claroty, 2024).
Conclusion
While SCADA systems are great tools for critical infrastructure, there tend to be cyber risks associated with them that can be difficult to solve. Traditional IT tools may be ineffective which could warrant building custom security measures tailored around these systems. To solve the vulnerabilities with the remote access that many of these systems utilize, firewalls and VPNs are some of the easiest and best ways to keep out third party attackers, and when used with physical security, greatly increase operational
security.
Works Cited
SCADA Systems. (2020) “Using SCADA to Protect Critical Infrastructure and Systems”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VnMlL2YmcW5Jg4MdDa1dt5fJpmQM0KV
H/edit?tab=t.0
Claroty Team. (2024) “A Comprehensive Guide to SCADA Cybersecurity.” Claroty.com
https://claroty.com/blog/a-comprehensive-guide-to-scada
cybersecurity#:~:text=Legacy%20Systems%3A%20SCADA%20systems%20wer
e,them%20vulnerable%20to%20cyber%20attacks.
Ryu, D. Kim, H. Um, K. (2009) “Reducing security vulnerabilities for critical
infrastructure.” Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, Volume 22,
Issue 6, Pages 1020-1024, ISSN 0950-4230,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2009.07.015