Practical security strategy for SCADA automation systems and networks

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and the communication networks are the information systems infrastructure in today's modern process control plants. SCADA is a real-time system used to monitor and control plant equipment, processes, as well as resources in industries such as energy, water/wastewater, petrochemical, and manufacturing. Originally, SCADA systems were monolithic and "closed" systems using proprietary protocols and communications. In recent years, these systems have adopted "open" standards and are designed around reliability and safety, not security. These systems have also become increasingly interconnected using technologies such as TCP/IP and Ethernet and thus, vulnerabilities that traditionally affected the corporate enterprise networks can now cause havoc on the plants floor. The focus of this paper is to study and evaluate the security risks as well as discuss practical countermeasures to minimize threats to these systems and the supported communication infrastructure.