Design and development of a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) laboratory

Abstract

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is a prevalent control system architecture that is commonly used for industrial automation. The SCADA systems play an integral role in large-scale processes for interfacing with transducers and machinery for real time control and data acquisition. The increasing demand to integrate SCADA systems with remote networks and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies has raised concerns for information security specialists. These systems are thought to have notable security vulnerabilities and may be subject to an increasing number of cyber threats. In this paper/project, several students from Sam Houston State University design and deploy a SCADA laboratory to better understand these systems and the inherent security threats that go with them. The details including system infrastructure, challenges faced during the establishment of the laboratory, student and faculty involvement, laboratory course objectives, student assessments, and the industry support is covered in the paper.