# Industrial Control Systems (ICS/SCADA)

Computer systems that monitor and control physical industrial processes like power grids, water treatment, and factories.

**Industrial Control Systems (ICS)**, which include SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems, are the computer systems that monitor and control physical industrial processes: power grids, water treatment plants, oil pipelines, and factory production lines. Unlike typical IT systems, they directly control real-world equipment, so a failure can have physical, not just digital, consequences.

ICS/SCADA environments were historically isolated from the internet, but increasing connectivity for remote monitoring has expanded their attack surface[↗](/attack-surface) significantly. Securing them requires specialized approaches, since these systems often run older software that can't simply be patched or rebooted without risking a real-world outage.