SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems monitor and control industrial processes, power grids, water treatment, manufacturing, oil and gas. SCADA networks have historically used proprietary serial protocols but increasingly run over IP, which exposes them to cyber threats. Standards such as IEC 62443 define security baselines for industrial control systems.

Categories: Security ControlsThreats and AttacksProtocols and Standards

SCADA in context

Security controls in telecom span signaling firewalls (SS7/Diameter/GTP screening at the network edge), transport encryption (IPsec, TLS, PRINS), identity and access on OSS/BSS, and monitoring at both the packet and log level. Controls are audited against GSMA FS.11/FS.19/FS.20/FS.36 and, in Europe, NIS2 sectoral rules.

Telecom threats range from opportunistic SMS phishing and SIM swap to nation-state grade location tracking and lawful-interception abuse. The common thread is that most attacks exploit the inherited trust model of legacy signaling. SS7 and Diameter were designed for a closed operator community that no longer exists.

To place SCADA in the wider telecom-security picture, review OAM, Cipher Downgrade Attack, OT, CASB, ICMP and MAC Filtering.

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