Network Security Vulnerabilities in SCADA and EMS

Power system deregulation brings broader reliance on information systems and telecommunication network to share the critical and non-critical data. In par with the network system expansion in power system, network security vulnerabilities have increased tremendously. Utilities are currently more vulnerable for external attacks due to integration of cooperate network and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system at modern utilities. The potential impact of security breaches are operational disruptions, lose of public confidence and corporate reputation. Regular vulnerability assessments, expert information security architecture design and managing security are the major steps that every electric power company should undertake to minimize the number and impact of security breaches. This paper classifies key information security vulnerabilities in SCADA and energy management system (EMS) and elaborates the potential impacts of each. Several remedial strategies to cerate an efficient information security of SCADA and EMS have also been presented in this paper