What is SCADA security?
SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) security is the practice of protecting SCADA systems from unauthorized access, modification or destruction.
Why is SCADA security important?
SCADA and HMI (human-machine interface) systems help control and monitor industrial processes such as power grids, water treatment plants and manufacturing facilities. They play a vital role in controlling and monitoring critical infrastructure, making SCADA security more important than ever before. The threat landscape is constantly evolving, exposing new vulnerabilities all the time. It's important to stay up to date on the latest security threats and trends, and to implement appropriate security measures to protect your SCADA system.
Challenges to SCADA security: Attacks and hacking
Here are some of the most common reasons a SCADA system gets attacked:
- The increasing sophistication of cyberattacks. Attackers are targeting SCADA systems with more advanced malware and techniques.
- The growing number of connected devices. The increasing number of connected devices in SCADA environments is creating new opportunities for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities.
- The lack of security awareness among SCADA users. Many SCADA users are not aware of the security risks associated with their systems, or do not follow basic security best practices.
To address these challenges, organizations need to implement a comprehensive SCADA security strategy. This strategy should address the following vulnerabilities:
- Lack of authentication/authorization: Weaknesses in this category include having many insecure defaults, using clear-text transmission of sensitive information, missing encryption, and having unsafe ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting.
- Credential management: Vulnerabilities include using hard-coded passwords, storing passwords in a recoverable format (e.g., clear text), and insufficiently protecting credentials.
- Memory corruption: Weaknesses include classic code security issues such as stack- and heap-based buffer overflows and out-of-bounds read/write vulnerabilities.
- Code injection issues: Software inserted within the intrusion protection boundary.
- Lack of domain isolation: Good practice is to segment and block IT and OT communication traffic so the business IT traffic cannot interfere with process control network using DMZ.
How do you secure your SCADA system?
A successful SCADA attack can have devastating consequences. It can cause outages, damage equipment, and even lead to loss of life. That's why it's so important to implement and follow SCADA security best practices.
One of the best ways to protect your SCADA system from cyberattack is to segment your network. This means dividing your network into different zones and restricting access between the zones. This will make it more difficult for attackers to move laterally through your network and gain access to your SCADA system.
NAC solutions can help you control and monitor access to your SCADA network. NAC solutions can identify devices that are connecting to the network and verify that they are authorized to do so. They can also restrict access to specific resources on the network.
Use strong passwords for all accounts on your SCADA system, and implement multifactor authentication (MFA) whenever possible. MFA adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide two or more factors of authentication, such as a password and a code from a one-time password (OTP) generator.
Software vendors regularly release security patches to fix vulnerabilities in their software. It's important to install these patches promptly to reduce the risk of your SCADA system being exploited.
Implement security solutions to monitor your SCADA network for suspicious activity. These solutions can detect unusual patterns of traffic and alert you to potential threats.
Your staff is your front line of defense against cyberattacks. Make sure that they’re trained on SCADA security best practices, such as how to identify and report suspicious activity.
Here’s a key question to ask any vendor: How much does it invest annually in security patches and ongoing hardening maintenance? The answer will likely depend on the size of its install base. Proven leaders with a larger install base are likely to be safer than smaller vendors that rely on open-source technologies, use third-party components, or employ Java, which has a proven higher degree of security vulnerabilities. Robust security ensures that sensitive industrial data and operations remain secure from unauthorized access or malicious cyber threats.
