In Depth

SCADA System Security: Out of Control

Industrial control systems such as SCADA systems sit squarely at the intersection of the digital and physical worlds. They're vulnerable, they're unpatchable, and they're connected to the Internet.

By Todd Datz

But most managers, engineers and workers with day-in and day-out responsibilities for maintaining control systems may be a long way from putting cybersecurity on the front burner. Earlier this year, Weiss held a conference session attended by 30 to 40 people, some 15 of whom were plant managers. Weiss says that in his informal discussions afterward, every one of those managers thought cybersecurity had to do solely with the vulnerability of their e-mail systems. "They had no idea whatsoever about security around control systems," he says. Weiss observes that 9/11 served to make security a big deal in terms of physical and IT security: business systems, websites and the like. But control system security? "To this day, most people don't think they're vulnerable," he says.

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