Threat Modeling Framework for Electrical Distribution Scada Networks

2 Abstract: SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) System has been the back bone of industrial automation. These systems are used to control and monitor industrial critical infrastructure functions such as electricity, gas, water, waste, railway and traffic. In the electrical domain SCADA systems have been widely installed for substation automation. The discovery of worm attacks that targeted the SCADA systems has raised the need for enforcing security measures in these systems. In this paper, the simulation environment to model the threats that attack SCADA distribution systems is proposed. The simulation environment enables the identification of cyber vulnerabilities, the impact of the exploits on controlled physical process and finally provides an assessment based on the criticality. The environment can also be used to develop cyber security mitigations. The drawback of these SCADA systems is that the threat modeling cannot be performed while the system is in execution and it can affect the electrical supply. The simulation environment provides the capabilities of modeling the existing threats and also tests the behavior of the system during potential attacks.