Building a Zero-Cost ICS/OT Security Lab: Overriding a PLC with 10 Lines of Python
Before recently, I had never touched industrial security. I just had a standard PC, some free open-source software, and a deep curiosity about how critical infrastructure actually works under the hood.
What I discovered when testing the network communication layers was eye-opening.
Setting the Scene
Power grids, water treatment plants, oil pipelines, and manufacturing floors all run on Industrial Control Systems (ICS). At the heart of these environments sits the PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), a rugged, specialized computer designed to interface with physical hardware. It executes deterministic logic loops to manipulate physical states: Open this valve. Spin this motor. Turn on this pump.
These controllers run the modern world. They are also shockingly easy to talk to over a local network.
I don’t mean that in an abstract, academic way. I mean that I sat at my local workstation, ran a lightweight Python script, and forced a PLC’s...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to hackernoon.com. To see the full text click HERE
