As infrastructure becomes modernized there has been a shift from constant human
overwatch to computerized systems and networks which are monitored/managed digitally through SCADA systems. SCADA are industrial control systems (ICS) which “used to control infrastructure processes (water treatment, wastewater treatment, gas pipelines, wind farms, etc), facility-based processes (airports, space stations, ships, etc,) or industrial processes (production, manufacturing, refining, power generation, etc)”(SCADA systems). These are centralized in access and operation to allow human intervention or manual changes within the system typically using and HMI or PLC interface. Given the critical nature of infrastructure its important to keep control of such infrastructure limited and secure. Breaches in security have resulted in damaging incidents like the Stuxnet virus which manipulated control systems and data acquisition to damage Iran’s nuclear program. Despite the network of the nuclear facility being extremely remote and isolated from outside connection it was still infiltrated. Showing
isolated networks don’t provide perfect security as physical access remains a big threat. Having SCADA systems in place further protects these networks by limiting access points to controlled systems which give orders through a medium to protect accessibility. However, these supervisory stations have exploits which are accessible by bad actors. If connected to the outside internet many will only have the protection of a VPN which while very helpful has its own flaws typically with the VPN provider being attacked itself. Also by allowing access stations there lies the possibility of unwanted access by either an individual or a computer virus. It comes with the price of accessibility. While SCADA systems provide greater layers of security to operations they also have large flaws which are consistently being exploited as further technological complexity allows more ways to access previously impenetrable systems.

References
 -Kovacevic, A., & Nikolic, D. (2016). Cyber attacks on Critical Infrastructure: Review and
challenges. In Civil and Environmental Engineering (pp. 448–465). IGI Global.
 -SCADA systems. (2018, July 25). SCADA Systems. http://www.scadasystems.net