SCADA Systems play an important role in protecting critical infrastructure systems. Examples of Critical infrastructure systems are control infrastructure processes, facility-based processes, and industrial processes. Control infrastructure processes are paramount for maintaining our daily operations. Some of these systems include water treatment, wastewater treatment, gas pipelines, and wind farms. Facility-based processes like ships and airports are important for travel and trade. Also, industrial processes are necessary for goods and services. Industrial processes include production, manufacturing, refining, and power generation (SCADA Systems, 2018).
Since SCADA systems have reached the network generation, it has paved the way for more vulnerabilities. “Critical infrastructure sites are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks as the systems that run them become more accessible, interconnected, and reliant on cyberspace. The risks posed to Industrial Control System and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (ICS/SCADA) systems will continue to heighten as new and existing vulnerabilities are exploited by both criminal and state-sponsored threat actors” (2021). SCADA developers are dealing with these risks by developing specialized VPNs and firewall solutions for SCADA Networks based on TCP/IP. The consequences of SCADA hardware failure can put systems out of commission or put people’s lives in danger. Some SCADA system hardware is able to withstand temperature and vibration extremes. In many critical installations, redundant hardware is included to take over a failing part instantaneously (SCADA Systems, 2018).
However, most SCADA systems have shared weaknesses. Lack of proper training of employees leads to a greater risk of social engineering and phishing attacks. Another common weakness of SCADA systems is the lack of maintenance. SCADA Vendors create products with default configurations that can be changed by system operators. If an operator does not change the default configuration it could put the security of the system at risk. An often overlooked weakness of SCADA systems is weak IT and OT segregation. Many organizations don’t have separate routers and communication structures which creates a bigger risk of an attack on IT and OT systems (Devasia, 2020).

References

SCADA Systems. (2018). SCADA Systems – SCADA Systems. SCADA Systems. http://www.scadasystems.net/

(2021). Nj.gov. https://www.cyber.nj.gov/threat-analysis-reports/critical-infrastructure-vulnerabilities-increasing-risks-high

Devasia, A. (2020, July 1). Securing SCADA systems from Cyber Attacks – technical articles. Control. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://control.com/technical-articles/securing-scada-systems-from-cyber-attacks/#:~:text=%20Ways%20to%20Protect%20SCADA%20Systems%20from%20Cyber,for%20any%20system.%20Every%20user%20of…%20More%20.