SCADA Systems Flashcards
7 cards from real SOPD practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 SCADA Systems flashcards as text
Which cybersecurity control is most important for protecting SCADA systems from unauthorized remote access?
Answer: Network segmentation with firewalls between the SCADA network and corporate IT networks
Network segmentation with firewalls isolates the SCADA operational technology (OT) network from corporate IT and the internet, significantly reducing the attack surface for cyber threats.
What does NERC CIP require regarding remote access to SCADA systems classified as BES Cyber Systems?
Answer: Remote access must be secured with multi-factor authentication and monitored
NERC CIP-005 requires that interactive remote access to BES Cyber Systems use encrypted communications and multi-factor authentication, with session monitoring and logging.
During a SCADA system failover to the backup master station, what is the operator's primary concern?
Answer: Ensuring the backup station has current real-time data and control capability before relying on it
During failover, operators must verify the backup master has synchronized current data and confirmed communication with field RTUs before trusting its displays for operational decisions.
What is the role of a SCADA historian in power system operations?
Answer: It archives time-series data for post-event analysis, trending, and regulatory compliance
The historian continuously archives timestamped SCADA data, enabling operators and engineers to replay events, analyze trends, and meet NERC reliability standard record-keeping requirements.
When an operator performs a 'manual entry' or 'substitution' on a SCADA point, what are they doing?
Answer: Overriding the measured value with a manually entered value when the RTU data is unreliable
Manual substitution replaces a suspect or unavailable RTU measurement with an operator-entered value so the energy management system can continue functioning with reasonable data.
Which condition would cause a SCADA analog point to enter 'bad quality' status?
Answer: The RTU reports a measurement that exceeds the configured engineering range limits
A bad quality flag is set when the RTU returns a value outside the configured reasonable engineering range, indicating a possible sensor failure, wiring problem, or RTU error.
In SCADA alarm management, what is the purpose of alarm 'deadband' or 'hysteresis' settings?
Answer: Avoid alarm chattering by requiring the value to return past a threshold offset before the alarm clears
Deadband settings require a measurement to recover past the alarm threshold by a specified amount before the alarm clears, preventing repeated alarm/clear cycling when a value oscillates near the limit.