Modern water treatment facilities rely on industrial control systems, sensors, controllers, engineering workstations, and remote maintenance capabilities to maintain safe and reliable operation. While these technologies improve efficiency and operational visibility, they also create dependencies on digital systems and trusted communication pathways.
This episode examines how compromise of a trusted maintenance pathway can influence a chemical dosing process within a municipal water treatment facility. Students explore how a cyber security incident can propagate through an OT environment, alter process behaviour, and create a physical process hazard. The episode also highlights the role of independent safety functions and demonstrates a key Security-Informed Safety principle: cyber security and safety must be considered together when managing risk in industrial systems.
Key Security-Informed Safety Lesson:
Cyber incidents become safety concerns when they influence physical process behaviour and create hazardous operating conditions.