IT security in industrial plants - an introduction

topic of IT security is becoming increasingly relevant in modern automated industrial plants. Modern automation systems provide high levels of inter-connectivity. Implementations are based on commercial IT platforms , many of which are known to be vulnerable to electronic attacks. This article is part 1 of a three part tutorial on IT security for industrial systems. Security objectives are explained, attack types are illustrated, and available and suggested countermeasures and general good practices are briefly described. Part 2 of this series will address best practices in protecting against certain types of attacks, and Part 3 will survey emerging standards for automation system security.