November 2011

SCADA Security: Losing the Battle to Efficiency

Submitted by Eric Byres on Tue, 2011-11-01 16:37

Last week I received a humorous note from Dr. Paul Dorey directing me to two side-by-side lead articles in the latest Automation.com eNewsletter, Programmable Automation Controllers (PAC) Update.

SCADA Security Breached at U.S. Water Utilities

Submitted by Eric Byres on Mon, 2011-11-21 11:42

Last week Joe Weiss caused a bit of a storm by releasing information on a cyber attack on the water SCADA system at the Curran-Gardner Township Public Water District, in Illinois. Now it seems like a second water utility has been hacked, this time in the City of South Houston.

U.S. Water Utilities and Poor Passwords

Submitted by Eric Byres on Tue, 2011-11-22 11:05

Last week (Nov 18) a hacker calling himself Pr0f demonstrated how he could easily hack into a SCADA system controlling the water utility at the City of South Houston.

SCADA Security Solutions Scarce at SPS IPC Drives Show

Submitted by Eric Byres on Wed, 2011-11-30 10:32

I just returned from the massive SPS IPC Drives show in Nuremburg, Germany. This is a massive show - according to the SPS web site, there were 56,321 visitors! An industrial automation show of this size is something I haven’t seen in North America since the glory days of ISA in the 1980s. If you want to see the trends and new technologies in the automation world, this is a good place to start.