Assessing the security of SCADA devices has always been a challenging task. SCADA devices are used in several critical infrastructure industries, including power plants, manufacturing, chemical processing, and nuclear reactors. Thus, the high availability and security of these devices are of the utmost importance. The challenge lies in assessing the security of SCADA devices without causing any adverse effects. The special purpose-built systems often operate within a limited scope and use protocols that are specific to the tasks being performed, such as Modbus, OPC, and DNP3.
In 2006, Tenable Network Security released the first Nessus® vulnerability scanner and Tenable Passive Vulnerability Scanner (PVS) SCADA plugins (you can read the original release notes for PVS in a post titled "SCADA Network Monitoring" and the original release for Nessus titled "SCADA Checks For Nessus 3"). In April 2011, a new round of SCADA plugins were released for Nessus (covering devices from Movicon, 7-Technologies, and more).
Tenable is now pleased to announce the availability of additional SCADA plugins for Nessus ProfessionalFeed, Tenable SecurityCenter, and PVS users. Tenable's research team worked alongside SCADA experts from Digital Bond to test and identify a wide variety of common SCADA devices. The plugins were announced at Digital Bond’s S4 Conference on SCADA security held on January 19, 2012. Note: Digital Bond’s Dale Peterson joined us on the Tenable Network Security podcast episode 110 and spoke about the new plugins and SCADA security.
Below is a sample of some of the new SCADA plugins: