SCADA Devices on Verizon and Other Wireless Networks
Stands to reason that devices that used to be reachable via POTS are going cellular – particularly in more remote areas. There are bigger issues though – assuming some sort of authentication on those dial-ups. That issue is the physical security of the installation site and how trusted that site may be by the “mothership”. This is a great read if you are interested in SCADA control network security.
I’ll start with the stats: we found 1,420 Raven Airlink devices in a wireless class B network that any customer with a wireless card from the carrier could access. These are ruggedized devices with Ethernet and serial connectors used for sending monitoring and control data back from the field.
We read way too many articles about SCADA and DCS being directly connected to the Internet and using the Internet for SCADA comms. You can find examples of this, but it is very rare. There is IP connectivity from the Internet to the corporate network to the control system network with multiple levels of firewalls, but extrapolating this to state that control systems are connected to and using the Internet is a stretch.
However public networks freely accessible by unauthorized users are sneaking into a growing number of control systems over the last five years in the form of wireless networks offered by Verizon and their competitors. These carriers are specifically targeting SCADA networks in the utility sector. We first blogged on this in 2005, and it has grown in the number of offerings and popularity since then.
via Digital Bond » SCADA Devices on Verizon and Other Wireless Networks.
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