Those businesses utilising SCADA in high risk environments have lately had a great deal to worry about. Whilst these control systems have been proven time and time again to reduce costs, improve efficiency and ultimately increase personal security, the worry of hacking is something that has been on the minds of those in control for some time now.
However, this is starting to change and not only is software in production that can be utilised by given industries and then customised for each individual company, but solutions are already being deployed to monitor network traffic to ensure tampering can be avoided or at least noticed immediately.
Whilst this is going to be effective in the short-term, in the long term it is likely that all such solutions will go wireless to further protect from terrorists.
Ultimately, the risk of these control systems being hacked is already extremely remote. However, for both peace of mind and added security as industries change (and indeed as terrorists change), SCADA is changing all the time. Whilst it may still be a year or two before all industries are totally covered, the majority already have the security they need with the solutions they use, with the option of deploying extra security functions between the management systems to ensure they are always as protected as modern technology will allow.
Many such systems already only operate once simulations have proved that the system is totally safe, and for the amount of time and money that such systems can help save, not to mention the dangers that can be avoided through their use, the current security capabilities are more than adequate to justify their use in almost all areas of industry. Yet, even by the end of the year, we are likely to see even more advancements made and an even safer world as a result.
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