SCADA stands for supervisory control and data acquisition. This system also refers to Industrial Control Systems also known as ICS which is used to control infrastructure, facilities, and industrial processes. In a journal it stated, “An example of this are the SCADA systems that control the Energy Generating and distributing infrastructure, the water systems and electricity systems and other major infrastructures”(Robles et al.). These infrastructures that are controlled by these systems like SCADA make them vulnerable to cyber attacks that happen on these control systems. In the SCADA System article it said that there were two risks and the first one was unauthorized access to software and the second one was related to the packet access to network segments. It seems that the big problem with SCADA Systems is that it is easy for people to gain access if they just send something to the system or know how to control it to cause a cyber attack. I would question the security of this system because it is a control system that runs machines humans use on a day to day basis. In the SCADA System article it stated, “ There is an erroneous belief that SCADA networks are safe enough because they are secured physically. It is also wrongly believed that SCADA networks are safe enough because they are disconnected from the Internet”(SCADA systems). This statement gives me some comfort knowing that professionals say it is safe, but with new technology and new ways to construct cyber attacks we can never be too safe. SCADA systems are also utilized to monitor and manage physical operations. A system breakdown would have detrimental effects across the nation, which shows how much security is crucial to this system.
References
SCADA systems. SCADA Systems. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2023, from http://www.scadasystems.net/Robles, R. J., Choi, M.-kyu, Cho, E.-suk, Kim, S.-soo, Park, G.-cheol, & Lee, J.-H. (n.d.). Common Threats and Vulnerabilities of Critical Infrastructures. NADIA. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://nadiapub.com/journals/ijca/