Improving Software and Data Security in SCADA Systems

Restricting physical access is currently the only practical security method for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. However, advanced systems must interconnect devices and link to networks. Future SCADA systems thus face threats through internal networks, the Internet, and other Ethernet wired or wireless connection points. Unless outfitted with cyber security technologies, key parts of our infrastructure such as power generation, power transmission, and water management plants will be open to potential attack. Real-Time Innovations (RTI) and Battelle propose a data-centric approach to ensure SCADA security. The systems must adhere to the"Three Tenets of Cyber Security": focus on the critical data communication, control access to the data, and detect and defend against attacks. In the case of SCADA systems, applying these tenets requires a framework that can securely collect and distribute sensor information in a real-time SCADA environment. The proposed solution leverages the Object Management Group (OMG) Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard for real-time systems middleware to build an open, extensible threat detection framework. It will collect security status and process it to detect attacks that target SCADA systems. When commercialized, it will bring facile, real-time detection capabilities, greatly increasing network reliability and defensibility through cyber attacks.