Remote - Spring 2013 - (Page 6)

Feature Article Key Design Consideration Questions for SCADA Communications Nicky Dibben, VP Marketing 4RF Limited As the pressure upon utilities continues, improving SAIFI and CAIDI statistics, increasing network efficiency while spending less money, squeezing the maximum performance out of assets, the challenge is on to find the areas within the network to focus on for best impact. The distribution grid is one of the key parts of the electricity network where even small improvements in network efficiency and effectiveness can have a huge impact on the bottom line of the business. Distribution automation is a key area of focus for many utilities, as it enables them to improve their business operations without requiring significant behavioural change by customers. With a huge legacy infrastructure and aging assets, where should you start? One key area is in adding monitoring and visibility to this huge distributed asset base, from substations to feeders to pole top reclosers. With access to information about the status of the assets’ current operational state and performance, the utility benefits from reduced downtime, faster service restorations, rapid identification of faults and opportunities for preventative maintenance, as well as a reduction in the number of truck rolls needed. This directly impacts the bottom line of the business. To enable this visibility, an appropriate communications solution needs to be chosen, to increase the distribution network efficiency and effectiveness without compromising the overall business. This article discusses some of the key design considerations that need to be taken into account and how point-to-multipoint narrowband SCADA radio network can successfully address these considerations. These considerations relate to key areas: control and ownership, security, a future-proof approach and manageability. Control and Ownership When monitoring and controlling your critical infrastructure, why trust your communications network to anyone but yourself? While using a publicly available solutions such as GPRS can be easy to implement, this service is not given a critical priority by the telecoms operators. With any major incident or event, the cellular network is vastly overloaded and there is no guarantee that communications will get back to the network operations center. With a privately owned and operated point-to-multipoint radio system, the network is completely within your control. Additional peace of mind is provided by using licensed spectrum bands such as 450 MHz and 900 MHz rather than license-free spectrum. With a privately owned solution, the primary investment is capital expenditure, rather than the ongoing operational expenditure of solutions such as leased lines and GPRS. This means that not only are you in complete control of the expenditure, but also a return on investment can be calculated compared to alternative solutions. Owning and controlling your own communications network means you have complete control over the quality of service and availability of the network as well as complete independence from any third party operator. Security In today’s era of increasing cyber security issues and concerns, a robust and rigorous approach to security is essential. Security is much more than just encryption. The four key pillars of security are: • Integrity: preventing the unauthorized modification of information • Availability: preventing the denial of a service • Confidentiality: preventing the unauthorised access to information • Non-repudiation: preventing the denial of an action It is not enough to address just the most commonly addressed issues of confidentiality and non-repudiation, which can be solved through the use of publicly recognised encryption and authentication standards and algorithms. Reliability is achieved through maintaining integrity and availability and these are the two most important aspects of security to consider for the monitoring and control of critical infrastructure, as documented in the NIST SP 800 82 standard. With regard to integrity, the communications network must ensure that a control message received by a remote asset is the same message that was originally sent to that asset. Catastrophic consequences could result if the system was compromised and a ‘halt’ message changed to a ‘run’ message, for example. With regard to availability, there needs to be an assurance that messages sent to a remote asset actually arrive at their destination. Again, catastrophic consequences could result if an important control message instructing a remote asset to halt never arrives. Public telecoms solutions are not designed taking into account the security measures that are required in the critical infrastructure applications of utilities. In contrast, products and solutions designed specifically for utility applications are able to embody the best practice standards recommended by the regulatory bodies and security standards groups, thus providing a comprehensive range of measures that not only take into account the four key pillars of security but also take into account the different types and sources of attack, both accidental and malicious. A point-to-multipoint narrowband SCADA radio system designed with the exact needs of utilities in mind provides maximum peace of mind from a security perspective. Security standards continue to evolve, with recommendations from bodies including NIST, NERC and the IEEE. With a wireless point-tomultipoint communications network that is entirely within your control, you are able to control the security measures within your network by upgrading the software over the air with the latest upgrades from your technology provider. Maximum security measures, designed specifically for utilities and their applications and able to evolve as the standards do, means maximum peace of mind. Future-Proof Approach The world is moving to IP / Ethernet, but not immediately. There are still a huge number of serial RTUs installed to control remote assets throughout the distribution network. Please see 4RF Continued on page 13 6 www.RemoteMagazine.com http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - Spring 2013

Editor's Choice
Key Design Consideration Questions for SCADA Communications
The Evolution of Wireless Sensing: Introducing the Next Level of Remote Monitoring
Software Defined Radios: Flexibility for the SCADA Market
SCADA
Networking
Security
Onsite Power
Inudustry News

Remote - Spring 2013