How Can SCADA Security Protect Infrastructure Networks?

The manufacturing, oil & gas, water, and electrical sectors of critical infrastructure are built upon vast and complex industrial networks. Protecting these industrial systems is vitally important, and it’s anything but simple. 

One reason for this is the fact that the various industrial systems are each unique. As such, each system may require its own set of diverse, coordinated efforts and protocols to maintain physical and cybersecurity protection. But regardless of any individual system’s specific needs or quirks, the first step in all security remains the same: protecting SCADA. 

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems function as the “brain” of many of these systems and their disparate or integrated components. Even distributed control systems, where separate systems can operate independently from one another, often need to be integrated with a central SCADA system. 

That means, regardless of the size and complexity of an industrial network, SCADA is always first on the list of security operators’ priorities.

What is SCADA Security and What Does it Look Like?

SCADA is where form follows function within an industrial system. SCADA’s components are diverse and can include networks, tools that acquire data, a way to present that data, and also a way to control other equipment and components either locally or from a remote location. Therefore, SCADA will look different depending on the specific industrial system it oversees.

SCADA security will also look different depending on each industrial system. But despite the necessity of specificity, there are still certain general guidelines that hold true regardless of any individual industrial system’s idiosyncrasies.

Here are a few solid SCADA cybersecurity practices:

1. Keeping SCADA on a Secure Network (Segmentation)

Keep SCADA separate from the organization’s general network for day-to-day operations. This ensures errors or vulnerabilities in the general network won’t transfer over to essential SCADA functions.

2. No SCADA Connections to the Internet

Direct internet connection should be avoided at all costs.

3. Secure Password Policies & Multi-factor Authentication

While authentication is not always a component of SCADA, if/when it is, secure password policies should be implemented, and employees should change passwords regularly. Inactive accounts should be deleted as soon as possible.

Implement multifactor authentication whenever possible, especially for remote access and jumphost systems.

4. Managing and Reducing Risk

When available, software patches, tools, and firmware upgrades are essential when it comes to bolstering SCADA’s efficacy and security.

However, not all software patches are created equal, so it’s important that your organization review any updates or patches and integrate them into the system’s standard maintenance windows.

5. Appropriate Physical Security

Cybersecurity can only go so far if physical security measures aren’t in place. Physical access to any areas with SCADA components should be clearly delineated, communicated and properly enforced.

6. Create a SCADA Security Checklist

Operators should develop a regular security checklist for assessing industrial security protocols. While many industrial systems are unique, templated SCADA checklists can be helpful for identifying solid industrial cybersecurity practices.

SCADA’s Best Defense is Already in Place

Despite the complexity and vastness of industrial systems, their best lines of defense are already in place. In most cases, those who know best how to protect these industrial systems are already the ones doing it. 

SCADA system security operators use their expertise to build and maintain physical and cybersecurity defenses. As such, the best industrial cybersecurity tools are just that—tools for these experts to use. These tools enhance the protection that stems from the operators’ existing knowledge, skillsets, and understanding of their industrial systems. 

That’s why EmberOT created a low-hassle, sensor-based tool that expands operators’ insights into their industrial systems. At EmberOT, we understand operators need a tool that enhances their visibility into the complex industrial systems under their control, not additional hardware that unnecessarily modifies the makeup of their already complicated, and sometimes unwieldy, industrial systems. 

EmberOT doesn’t clutter an operator’s work with cumbersome hardware devices that interfere with systems or fall victim to uncontrollable supply-chain issues. Instead, our out-of-the-box sensor-based industrial cybersecurity solution is reliable, low-footprint, and effective when it comes to keeping industrial systems running. Interested in learning more? Reach out to us for a demo today.