SCADA practices
SCADA systems from Mitsubishi Alpha to MOSCAD can use wireless networks such as MDS microwave relays. Critical infrastructure systems own radio networks help maintain control in the face of a major telecom failure. Leased lines are too expensive, POTS dialup can be fidgety.
Municipalities and utilities small to large can’t afford to rely on weak communications command and control linkages. Old systems based on DTMF or proprietary signaling systems can be replaced with MOSCAD or the like having timestamped, encrypted anti-playback capability.
No factory-default passwords, make the SCADA equipment require a sufficiently sophisticated password. Find ways to make certificates and other “beyond password” measures a reality with embedded critical control systems. Sometimes adding just 2% percent to a system cost adds 15% more value.
For example, using narrowband data to pumps and broadband data to substations can reduce antenna needs for the narrowband stations, allowing increased robustness in remote areas. Triggered camera recording with periodic snapshotting allows identification of malfeasants over a modest data pipeline vs. thousands of hours of unwatched video. Instead have high speed video when the installation is approached.
These approaches exploit the latest in encrypted, license-free data radio technology, allowing rapid upgrades without dealing with contentious cross-border licensing issues. The higher directivity of 900MHz yagis vs. VHF yagis allows denser networks and less interference from tropospheric ducting a.k.a. “skip” from hundreds of miles away. Multipoint operation reduces the need for a tall central tower(s)–or have multiple supernode locations with more modest elevation.