Industrial Cyber-security
What are the Cybersecurity Risks for Industrial Automation?
Evaluating Threats and Consequences
Introduction
Increasingly the digital control systems that control our industrial facilities (oil refineries, power stations, water treatment, dairies, food processing etc.) are Internet connected and using hardware and software form the commercial IT domain (Windows and Linux operating systems for example).
Previously industrial automation had been isolated from the Internet and used proprietary hardware and software.
These changes have exposed industrial automation systems to cybersecurity risks. There have been several high-profile incidents where automation systems have been compromised resulting in significant damage or loss.
These incidents have resulted in the owners of industrial automation systems making efforts to improve the security of their systems and has attracted equipment vendors and service providers to a new a growing market.
This article will describe some examples of cybersecurity breaches against industrial automation systems and will then go on to outline a classification framework where system breaches are classified into four broad areas and the impact and…
