SCADA System

Context:

Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Sekhawat has said that the canal gates of projects under Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigam Limited (KBJNL) are being controlled by remote technology that connects with the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System to ensure flow of equal quantity of water into the canals to ensure proper irrigation in dependent fields.
This system will be extended to other parts of the country if it becomes successful, he added.

Supervisory control and data acquisition(SCADA) is a control system architecture comprising computers, networked data communications and graphical user interfaces for high-level supervision of machines and processes.
It also covers sensors and other devices, such as programmable logic controllers, which interface with process plant or machinery.
The operator interfaces which enable monitoring and the issuing of process commands, like controller set point changes, are handled through the SCADA computer system.
The subordinated operations, e.g. the real-time control logic or controller calculations, are performed by networked modules connected to the field sensors and actuators.

A majority of the SCADA systems used in India were installed 20-30 years ago, in the pre-internet era. Now known as “legacy” systems, these older systems were stand-alones unconnected to remote users.
They were therefore not built to deal with today’s network-based threats or cyber attacks. According to industry insiders, not only the legacy systems, but also the recently-installed SCADA systems in a networked environment, are vulnerable to cyber attacks.
This is because devices running SCADA systems have limited computational power to implement security protocols.

Source: THE HINDU.