Overview of SCADA Vulnerabilities and Mitigation of Risks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are unique to the critical infrastructure system they control. This unique configuration of the SCADA systems also makes the mitigation of vulnerabilities to be unique as well. In this write-up, I will discuss vulnerabilities associated with critical infrastructure systems focusing on implementation issues and security misconfiguration issues. Then, we will touch base on different tools available to critical infrastructure systems to mitigate cybersecurity risks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vulnerabilities<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The evolution of SCADA systems has encouraged industrial control systems (ICS) to implement the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software. This trend has inadvertently increased the attack surface in SCADA systems that previously did not exist in air-gapped ICS environments (Alanazi et al., 2023). The increase in vulnerabilities due to the use of COTS hardware and software paired with the vulnerabilities of SCADA systems older infrastructure still in use, create a very significant taxonomy of SCADA vulnerabilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Implementation Issues<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vulnerabilities caused by implementation issues are flaws in the architecture of the programming. This section of the write-up briefly lists and explains vulnerabilities caused by implementation issues (Alanazi et al., 2023):
\u2022 Lack of input validation occurs when inputs are not validated to be safe or correct.
\u2022 Improper validation of array index occurs because lacking input validation from upstream components are not checked by the software.
\u2022 Untrusted search paths exploit can lead to data link library (DLL) hijacking.
\u2022 Improper limitation of memory buffer can lead to buffer overflow or an off by one error when the memory buffer is used outside of its limits.
\u2022 Improper control flow management which can create modified execution logic due to code not effectively managing flow. This can lead to race conditions, time-of-check time-of-use vulnerability, server-side request forgery, and hidden functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Security Misconfiguration Issues<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vulnerabilities caused by security misconfiguration issues are the result of implementation of weak security techniques. This section of the write-up briefly lists and explains vulnerabilities caused by security misconfiguration issues (Alanazi et al., 2023):
\u2022 Protection mechanism failure caused by lack of encryption, inadequate encryption strength, insufficient random values, and insufficient verification of data authenticity.
\u2022 Weak password requirements: a successful exploit leads to privilege escalation.
\u2022 Improper access control allows access to critical resources by mistake.
\u2022 Improper authentication occurs when the software does not validate the identity of a user and can cause: Bypass authentication, use of hard-coded credentials, authentication bypass by capture-replay, lack of certificate validation, default password configuration, improper restriction of invalid authentication attempts, improper authorization, and unsalted hash value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mitigation Tools<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The differences between ICS and IT systems prevent IT mitigation mechanisms from being utilized in ICS systems. This is because of the conflicts with the ICS system requirements. The following cybersecurity controls can help mitigate risk on SCADA systems (Alanazi et al., 2023):
\u2022 Assets management inventory can be utilized to discover unauthorized devices that are connected to the network.
\u2022 Vulnerability assessment and management can help determine entries that attackers may use.
\u2022 Using safe memory languages such as Rust.
\u2022 Integrity checks can prevent attempts to crash a server by the use of DoS and DDoS attacks.
\u2022 Input validation by employing a whitelist approach.
\u2022 Output encoding that transforms a user input into a safe form.
\u2022 Privilege access management to prevent privilege escalation.
\u2022 Credential management: avoid using default password configurations and passwords should be salted.
\u2022 Intrusion detection, prevention, and prediction systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The uniqueness of SCADA systems creates individual challenges that need to be addressed for every critical infrastructure system. Utilizing tools like the NIST framework and MITRE\u2019s Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE), will help discover vulnerabilities, and create a plan to mitigate cybersecurity risks.
References
Alanazi, M., Mahmood, A., & Chowdhury, M. J. M. (2023). SCADA vulnerabilities and attacks: A review of the state\u2010of\u2010the\u2010art and open issues. Computers & security, 125(103028), 1-29. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.cose.2022.103028
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Overview of SCADA Vulnerabilities and Mitigation of Risks Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are unique to the critical infrastructure system they control. This unique configuration of the SCADA systems also makes the mitigation of vulnerabilities to be unique as well. In this write-up, I will discuss vulnerabilities associated with critical infrastructure systems focusing… <\/p>\n