The level of sophistication shown in the engineering of the
virus required specific knowledge of the physical equipment
in the plant, the control loops in place and the architecture
of the control network. The effects of the virus could have
Fig. 5. Example Defense in Depth network structure
been considerably worse - malicious code of a similar nature
could easily cripple a country’s infrastructure by forcing
equipment in utilities to shut down or damage itself. It can
therefore be seen that the security of industrial systems is of
critical concern and is an ongoing research area, especially
by government agencies and other oversight committees. The
governing bodies of the various fieldbus standards and the
academic institutions associated with each are also heavily
invested in order to gain competitive advantage.