Securing SCADA systems with open source software

Industrial SCADA systems are deployed all across the globe for refineries, water treatment, nuclear power plants, oil fields and process plants. SCADA systems are vulnerable to attacks by hackers which can damage expensive equipment and jeopardize human health and safety in large areas. In this paper, we define SCADA security related issues and discuss the current security tools and techniques. Later, we describe our experiments in configuring SCADA security using open source security software tools available under Linux operating system. A systematic method of securing SCADA systems with such tools is described and the results are discussed.