Security of Critical Control Systems Sparks Concern

For about 50 years, sophisticated industrial control systems have kept major infrastructure, manufacturing, and utilities operations in check. These systems gauge and adjust factors such as temperature, electrical current, pressure, and flow rate to keep dams, factories, nuclear power plants, and other similar facilities functioning properly and safely. Control systems are growing in popularity. Securing control systems has become a much more serious issue since the advent of the Internet and the rise in terrorist threats. Today, many government and private operations have connected their controls to the Internet through unhardened operating systems.