SCADA

SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) monitors industrial processes and allows authorised supervision or control through field devices, communications, servers and operator interfaces. It is used in environments such as energy, water and manufacturing, but architecture and safety responsibilities vary. SCADA is not the process controller itself in every design and “real time” depends on operational requirements. Connectivity creates useful visibility and also dependencies and attack paths. Security should begin with asset and flow inventory, segmentation, controlled remote access, backups, logging and tested change procedures that respect safety and availability. Legacy protocols and limited maintenance windows require caution. Validation should cover data quality, alarms, loss of communications, manual operation and recovery, not just whether the dashboard displays values.