Understanding industrial control systems security basics

An industrial control system (ICS) is a general term used for any distributed control system, programmable logic controller, supervisory control and data acquisition or any automation system used in industrial environments that includes critical infrastructures. IEC 61511:2016-Functional Safety-Safety instrumented systems for the process industry sector also demands security assessments on safety instrumented system (SIS) design in control systems. Because of the recent outcry over cyber attacks, ICS security has received more attention as a necessity to protect against external hackers. An in-depth defense technique is necessary to secure the ICS and minimize the risk. Since cyber threats rapidly change, security risk management should be a continuous process.