Critical infrastructure systems are critical to our daily operations, but they face numerous threats. This paper addresses a few of the threats that our critical infrastructure systems face and how SCADA systems help mitigate those threats.
Vulnerabilities associated with critical infrastructure systems
A hacker in Florida attempted to raise the sodium hydroxide content from 100 parts per million to 11,100 ppm in February 2021 after gaining access to the city’s water system. The critical national infrastructure (CNI) of the United States is the backbone of its economy, and it has grown to be crucial to the economy’s operation and the safety of its population. It encompasses installations, assets, and systems from several industries, including the energy, transportation, and healthcare sectors. These industries are susceptible to new dangers, though. For instance, there is always a risk of cyberattacks, human mistakes, and even natural disasters affecting hundreds of electrical facilities, gas pipelines, and water supplies. They have the potential to cause a wide range of harm, including lost or damaged property, worker accidents or fatalities, environmental contamination from pollutant spills, and service interruptions that could result in enormous financial losses(Iwuozor, 2022).
The role SCADA systems play in mitigating the risks.
SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is a sort of industrial control system (ICS) that is used to monitor, control, and manage industrial processes as well as essential infrastructure. In order to mitigate these threats, SCADA providers are creating customized industrial VPN and firewall solutions for TCP/IP-based SCADA networks. Additionally, because white-listing solutions can stop unauthorized application updates, they have been put into practice( SCADA Systems, 2018). In SCADA systems, security operators employ their knowledge to create and manage cybersecurity and physical defenses. As a result, the greatest industrial cybersecurity tools are simply that—tools. They aim to improve the protections provided by operators’ knowledge, skill sets, and understanding of their industrial systems(SynSaber, 2023).
Conclusion
Critical infrastructure such as water treatment, manufacturing, gas pipelines, wastewater treatment, production, power generation, and many more are very crucial to our daily lives. These infrastructures face many risks, and thus mitigation against these risks must be put into action. Disruption of these critical infrastructures can affect our power supply, water supply, healthcare, and many crucial activities. SCADA systems play a crucial role in mitigating these risks. Some roles include using flow meters, pressure sensors, and temperature sensors to collect real-time data.
References
Iwuozor, J. (2022, September 14). The biggest threats to the US Critical National Infrastructure. ITEGRITI. https://itegriti.com/2022/managed-services/the-biggest-threats-to-the-us-critical-national-infrastructure/
SCADA Systems – SCADA Systems. (2018, July 25). SCADA Systems. https://www.scadasystems.net/
SynSaber. (2023, January 5). What is SCADA Security & How Does It Protect Infrastructure Networks? https://synsaber.com/resources/blog/what-is-scada-security/