A Survey of SCADA Testbed Implementation Approaches

TLDR

SCADA systems have become the central nerve system of electric power infrastructure, increasingly adopting IoT and cloud technologies, which makes them attractive targets for cyber attacks and highlights the need for vulnerability analysis and security testing. This paper reviews common SCADA implementation approaches to support the development and testing of security solutions in realistic experimental setups. The authors analyze and compare SCADA implementation methods from prior work, focusing on experimental configurations that closely mimic real-world systems for security evaluation. The study concludes that experimenting on live SCADA systems is generally impractical and risky, reinforcing the necessity of dedicated testbeds. Keywords: Cyber Attacks, Industrial Control, Power Systems, SCADA Systems, Security, Testbed.

Abstract

Objectives: SCADA systems are turning into the central nerve system of the electric power system critical infrastructure. With the increasing availability and use of computer networks and the Internet as well as the convenience of cloud computing, SCADA systems have increasingly adopted Internet-of-Things technologies to significantly reduce infrastructure costs and increase ease of maintenance and integration. However, SCADA systems are obvious targets for cyber attacks that would seek to disrupt the critical infrastructure systems thus are governed by a SCADA system. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Cyber attacks exploit SCADA security vulnerabilities in order to take control or disrupt the normal operation of the system. Analyzing security vulnerability and loopholes are critical in developing security solutions for such systems. It is also equally important to test security solutions developed to protect SCADA systems. Findings: Experimenting on live systems is generally not advisable and impractical as this may render the system unstable. Such situation calls for the need of an experimental setup equivalent or quite close to the real scenario for developing and testing security solutions. Application/Improvements: This paper reviews common SCADA implementation approaches utilized in previous related works. Keywords: Cyber Attacks, Industrial Control, Power Systems, SCADA Systems, Security, Testbed