Vulnerabilities of Critical Infrastructure

Critical infrastructure is a vital part of American society. Threats and vulnerabilities become more evident every day. Some threats that plague critical infrastructure are natural threats like a tsunami and regular cyber attacks like the one on the colonial pipeline. Vulnerabilities are very dangerous to anyone’s way of life. A disruption to the US’s energy supply could lead to an economic and security meltdown. Transportation has given cyber professionals a complex physical and cyber security challenge. These different modes of transportation have gained attention from cyber terrorists. A simple disruption from even a natural or human-made disaster could damage many human and commercial links. Every day, new threats are evolving into something scarier. An example of one of these evolving threats involves cybercriminals performing highly intelligent Man in the Middle attacks. Cybercriminals have access to super-fast computers which can break through the encryption of security certificates. What are SCADA systems doing in order to help stop these potential damages?

SCADA Systems

SCADA stands for supervisory control and data acquisition. SCADA systems are centralized systems that monitor sites. These systems are able to process data and then make it readable by a human. SCADA systems are so complex that certain experts are worried about self-inflicted failures. Today, SCADA systems use communication between a system and the master station by using WAN protocols like IP. SCADA systems have a large amount of complexity to them. They are being used to increase reliability and help workers do better work. SCADA systems also reduce downtime, and some systems can withstand temperature, voltage, and vibration extremes. These systems are also used to monitor and control physical processes like gas transportation and oil pipelines. On the contrary, SCADA-based systems are being questioned about their security. They are prime targets for cyberterrorism and cyber warfare attacks. A huge threat to SCADA systems is unauthorized access to software, which could lead to major problems for the host machine.

References

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

Tal, J. (2018, September 20). Please enable cookies. StackPath. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://www.securityinfowatch.com/access-identity/access-control/article/12427447/americas-critical-infrastructure-threats-vulnerabilities-and-solutions.