Securing Wireless Scada Systems in Rural American Power Grids

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are used in the electrical (among others) industry to provide automated services in the electrical grid. Engineers who, in years past, have had to respond to every issue by being physically present in order to resolve the issues no longer have the physical presence requirement. SCADA allows for those engineers to address problems from a central location, which enhances productivity overall. This article focuses on SCADA's use within rural electric companies, and the security vulnerabilities caused by its use. The analysis is not exhaustive, but instead seeks to pay specific attention to wireless sensor mesh networks (WSMN). SCADA systems use main controllers to communicate with and gather data from sensor nodes. The protocols used to transmit data wirelessly are generally short-range, and consequently present unique security obstacles. This article discusses the obstacles presented by the Zigbee Pro, WirelessHART and ISA 100.11a protocols, and provide a brief synopsis of detection and mitigation of strategies that can help protect critical infrastructure (CI) in rural America. This is a preliminary research work towards addressing vulnerability issues in Rural American Power Grids.