ICS/SCADA Insecurities and Solutions
The Transportation Systems Sector is made up of aviation, highway and motor carrier, maritime transportation system, mass transit and passenger rail, pipeline systems, and freight rail. The mass transit and passenger rail includes buses, trolleybuses, monorail and heavy rail otherwise known as metros, which together in 2014 estimated 10.8 billion passenger trips (DHS, 2016).
There have been many events affecting Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition SCADA systems, such as the Stuxnet virus in 2010 impacting nuclear power plant hardware, and several incidents of transportation rail networks being affected by viruses. To help prevent such events from occurring and disrupting national security, and potentially causing loss of life, Enlightened is working to drive the technical solutions that will implement policies and standards to solve these problems. We are working to develop test beds by building Cybersecurity Integration Labs and testing software and malware frameworks.
The importance of cybersecurity in the SCADA arena is critical. Cyberspace has a reach into SCADA systems which run the country’s infrastructure including transportation and the energy sector. The consequences of affected systems can be detrimental. Enlightened through teaming arrangements with cutting edge security companies have broadened our capabilities to better serve the defense of cyberspace operations and organizations including the transportation industry.