SCADA security: Bad app design could give hackers access to industrial control systems
Mobile applications used to help control internet-connected SCADA (industrial control and supervisory control and data acquisition) systems are riddled with security vulnerabilities which, if exploited, could be used by attackers to disrupt or damage critical infrastructure.
Electricity and water companies are just two examples of the sort of businesses which are increasingly using mobile devices to aid with the remote monitoring of services; security companies have warned that weaknesses in the applications developed for smartphones puts whole systems at risk from hackers.
Titled SCADA and Mobile Security in the Internet of Things Era, the analysis by security companies IOActive and Embedi suggests that if they can remotely gain access to the mobile devices utility companies use, attackers can perform harmful actions.
