Control systems-computer-basedsystems that monitor and controlsensitive processes and physicalfunctions-perform vital functionsin many of our nation's criticalinfrastructures, including electricpower, oil and gas, watertreatment, and chemicalproduction. The disruption ofcontrol systems could have asignificant impact on public healthand safety, which makes securingthem a national priority. GAO wasasked to (1) determine cyberthreats, vulnerabilities, and thepotential impact of attacks oncritical infrastructure controlsystems; (2) determine thechallenges to securing thesesystems; (3) identify private sectorinitiatives to strengthen thecybersecurity of control systems;and (4) assess the adequacy ofpublic sector initiatives tostrengthen the cybersecurity ofcontrol systems. To address theseobjectives, we met with federal andprivate sector officials to identifyrisks, initiatives, and challenges.We also compared agency plans tobest practices for securing criticalinfrastructures.

Critical Infrastructure Protection: Multiple Efforts to Secure Control Systems Are Under Way, but Challenges Remain

The increased use of technology is necessary in order for industrial control systems to maintain and monitor industrial, infrastructural, or environmental processes. The need to secure and identify threats to the system is equally critical. Securing Critical Infrastructures and Critical Control Systems: Approaches for Threat Protection provides a full and detailed understanding of the vulnerabilities and security threats that exist within an industrial control system. This collection of research defines and analyzes the technical, procedural, and managerial responses to securing these systems.

Networked Control Systems: Cloud Control and Secure Control explores new technological developments in networked control systems (NCS), including new techniques, such as event-triggered, secure and cloud control. It provides the fundamentals and underlying issues of networked control systems under normal operating environments and under cyberphysical attack. The book includes a critical examination of the principles of cloud computing, cloud control systems design, the available techniques of secure control design to NCS's under cyberphysical attack, along with strategies for resilient and secure control of cyberphysical systems. Smart grid infrastructures are also discussed, providing diagnosis methods to analyze and counteract impacts. Finally, a series of practical case studies are provided to cover a range of NCS's. This book is an essential resource for professionals and graduate students working in the fields of networked control systems, signal processing and distributed estimation. - Provides coverage of cloud-based approaches to control systems and secure control methodologies to protect cyberphysical systems against various types of malicious attacks - Provides an overview of control research literature and explores future developments and solutions - Includes case studies that offer solutions for issues with modeling, quantization, packet dropout, time delay and communication constraints

This comprehensive handbook covers fundamental security concepts, methodologies, and relevant information pertaining to supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and other industrial control systems used in utility and industrial facilities worldwide. Including six new chapters, six revised chapters, and numerous additional figures, photos, and illustrations, it addresses topics in social implications and impacts, governance and management, architecture and modeling, and commissioning and operations. It presents best practices as well as methods for securing a business environment at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels.