Analysis of SCADA Security Using Penetration Testing: A Case Study on Modbus TCP Protocol

This paper presents an insight into attacks on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems specifically focusing on systems that use the Modbus TCP protocol. A penetration testing approach is adopted using a novel penetration testing tool to (i) test the effectiveness and efficiency of the tool, (ii) examine the insider threat as well as the external threat through internal and external penetration testing respectively and (iii) rate the vulnerabilities identified through the penetration tests according to the Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The study also examines and tests the existing security countermeasures that are unique to SCADA systems and outlines some recommendations that may improve security in SCADA systems. The experimental results show that some of the attacks may severely impact integrity and availability.