Understanding the threat to SCADA networks

Cyber-attacks on critical infrastructures are on the increase and are becoming a growing concern for organisations and governments across the globe. Power generation facilities, metropolitan traffic control systems, water treatment systems and factories have become targets of attackers, and have been hit recently with an array of network breaches, data thefts and denial of service activities. Vulnerabilities in these systems can vary from basic issues such as systems without passwords or with default-only passwords, to configuration issues and software bugs. But once an attacker is able to run software that has access to a controller, the likelihood of a successful attack is very high.