Hacking Exposed Industrial Control Systems: ICS and SCADA Security Secrets & Solutions

PART I

SETTING THE STAGE: PUTTING ICS PENETRATION TESTING IN CONTEXT

CASE STUDY, PART 1: Recipe for Disaster

Wednesday, 9:45 AM

Bob sat down at the display terminal with his second morning cup of coffee and continued to scan over the Human-Machine Interface (HMI). On the desk in front of him were three 23-inch monitors, connected and placed side by side. He scoffed, annoyed at the login prompt.

“IT security...,” he thought sarcastically.

He remembered when things were much simpler—and much more convenient. He used to be able to walk away from his terminal, go out for a smoke, get a fresh cup of coffee, and when he returned, there were his displays waiting for him, just the way he left them. Now he had to come back to an annoying password ...