Critical infrastructures run our country and make life more comfortable and accessible. Like any other systems big or small, they face many risks for shutting down and putting people’s livelihoods at risk. SCADA systems maintain these infrastructures and keep these risks at bay to protect the technology that allows people to live safely and comfortably.
Risks that Critical Infrastructures Face
Critical infrastructures are the core of the modern day world when it comes to essential services such as emergency services, dam building and upkeep, and airport functionalities. Without these critical infrastructures, the world as we know it today would not be as technologically advanced and life would become more difficult to live comfortably. Two major vulnerabilities critical infrastructures face are human driven attacks both physically and digitally, and the risk of one technical issue completely shutting down the infrastructure and putting people’s lives at risk.
What are SCADA Systems?
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are software systems that control various processes such as infrastructure, facility-based, and industrial processes that control critical infrastructures across the globe. While they are not solely responsible for physically running the infrastructures, they manage any issues that come with the processes such as communication, processing data, and maintaining energy efficiency throughout the systems. Without SCADA systems, most of these processes would be unorganized and failures would be more frequent within these infrastructures.
What are the vulnerabilities of SCADA Systems?
Security is vital for these systems, and like with any software there are vulnerabilities for people to attack these systems both physically and digitally. Because these systems are manually controlled by operators, it can be easy for anyone to go in and manually make unwanted changes and install malware or worms into SCADA systems and shut down critical infrastructures.
Another vulnerability is because SCADA systems are completely disconnected from the internet, anyone can also manually insert packets into the SCADA systems which allows for complete control of the infrastructures. Similar to how the Russian GRU installed malware with potential to spy on the American government and hack into our military services, any packet of data can be installed into SCADA systems and can result in major consequences.
How do SCADA Systems Mitigate Security Risks?
Although SCADA systems have their own vulnerabilities that could shut down infrastructures in an instant, they are equipped to minimize these risks and keep operations and processes running smoothly. Despite SCADA systems being disconnected from the internet, they are able to communicate with each other and send signals that can alert operators to issues and errors within the systems. They are able to communicate remotely and locally to collect data in real time to track processes and the status of functionally that the systems are in.
Conclusion
Critical infrastructures are the core of the modern day culture, and SCADA systems have been revolutionizing the way they can remain protected and functional. SCADA system security measures have thwarted numerous attacks that threatened the safety and confidentiality of many countries. With enough time and research, they will continue to improve and change the way companies and organizations run their most important assets in a modern technical society.
Citations
Incidents, C. (2025). Significant cyber incidents: Strategic technologies program. https://www.csis.org/programs/strategic-technologies-program/significant-cyber-incidents
Systems, S. (2025). SCADA systems. Google Docs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DvxnWUSLe27H5u8A6yyIS9Qz7BVt_8p2WeNHctGVboY/edit?tab=t.0