Write-Up- SCADA Systems

Name: Max Amici

Date: 10/31/2021

            Supervisory control and data acquisition, otherwise known as SCADA, is an industrial control system that is used in infrastructure processes, facility-based processes, and industrial processes. Essentially, these systems allow operators to access data and manage equipment when needed as it is a strong system that collects, analyzes, and visualizes data that is taken from the equipment.

            While these systems are crucial to the overall functioning of control systems, the security associated with them can be questionable. Although they are disconnected from the internet, they are not immune to security risks like you may think. Since this is the case, it is important that the risks they are vulnerable to are known because they are monitoring important resources and when mishandled, the consequences could prove fatal to some. One of the vulnerabilities is unauthorized access to data regardless of if it is a human, virus, or anything else that may harm a machine. Another vulnerability is the packet access to the network that hosts these devices managed by SCADA. Oftentimes only a VPN is put in place to protect against threats here even though it is able to be bypassed by a switch.

            These are vulnerabilities that SCADA is obviously also aware of, so they are working on ways to improve themselves and security. While they are always looking for ways to develop better specialized industrial VPNs and firewall solutions to reduce the vulnerabilities, they are also implementing white-listing solutions that have the ability to prevent changes to a system if they are an unauthorized user.

            While it is good that they are looking for better-specialized VPNs and firewalls, it is important that they will continue to grow the quality of their security and find better ways to fill the holes in that security continuously. They may not be able to completely eliminate these threats, but it is entirely possible to keep them contained and at bay.

References

SCADA systems. SCADA Systems. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2021, from http://www.scadasystems.net/.