The basics of cybersecurity

Before we can start hardening our PLC systems from an attack, we first need to understand the basics. To start our exploration, we need to understand how bad actors can get into our system.

Vulnerabilities, threats, and risk

For a bad actor to get into a system, they need to find an entry point. Since they aren’t supposed to have access to the system, they need to find a weak point that they can use to gain entry. This weak point is called a vulnerability. A day-to-day analogy of a vulnerability is like leaving your car unlocked. In terms of computer science, a vulnerability can best be thought of as a flaw in the software that leaves the software unlocked for someone to break into. For instance, a common flaw might be not locking out a user after they enter the wrong password three times or not encrypting a maintenance screen on an HMI panel. Flaws such as these can easily be exploited by bad actors to gain access and even exert control over...