A couple of months ago, some of the IT personnel and consultant did a presentation and demonstration at the office on the cyber threats to SCADA/ICS. From what I understand during the session, SCADA/ICS is part of of a system that controls remote equipment at manufacturing plants, oil platforms, power/nuclear plants, etc.
Traditionally, the two components of information technology network (IT) for business and desktop application is separated from operational technology network (OT) which consist of remote devices and control processes. With the availability of the Internet and current technology, organisations are bridging this two components with allows them to remotely monitor and administer their plants and platform.
It is uses coded signals that transmit from a control centre to remotely control the equipment, and if signals are hacked then the hackers are able to take control of the equipment. Imagine someone hacked into the SCADA/ICS of an oil production platform and sabotage the equipment by changing the settings, it can cause a lot of damages even loss of lives.
Traditionally, the two components of information technology network (IT) for business and desktop application is separated from operational technology network (OT) which consist of remote devices and control processes. With the availability of the Internet and current technology, organisations are bridging this two components with allows them to remotely monitor and administer their plants and platform.
It is uses coded signals that transmit from a control centre to remotely control the equipment, and if signals are hacked then the hackers are able to take control of the equipment. Imagine someone hacked into the SCADA/ICS of an oil production platform and sabotage the equipment by changing the settings, it can cause a lot of damages even loss of lives.
As the technology becomes available for organisations to apply it in their operations, the threat from cyber attacks are potentially higher and measures are taken to ensure not only it is protected from external threats, but internally the employees need to have the awareness of not simply opening or copying email attachments that might allow hackers to get into the system.
SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) is a system that operates with coded signals over communication channels so as to provide control of remote equipment (using typically one communication channel per remote station). The control system may be combined with a data acquisition system by adding the use of coded signals over communication channels to acquire information about the status of the remote equipment for display or for recording functions. It is a type of industrial control system (ICS). Industrial control systems are computer-based systems that monitor and control industrial processes that exist in the physical world. SCADA systems historically distinguish themselves from other ICS systems by being large-scale processes that can include multiple sites, and large distances. These processes include industrial, infrastructure, and facility-based processes.
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCADA
Check out this YouTube video on a staged cyber attack on a power grid. It shows how devastating this attack can be:
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