Introduction

The National Communications System (NCS) was established through a Presidential Memorandum signed by President John Kennedy on August 21, 1963. The memorandum assigned NCS the responsibility of providing necessary communications for the Federal Government under national emergency conditions by linking together, improving, and expanding the communication capabilities of the various agencies. 

In April 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order (E.O.) 12472, Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) Telecommunications Functions, which broadened the mission and focus of the National Communications System.  Since that time, the NCS has been assisting the President and the Executive Office of the President (EOP) in exercising wartime and non-wartime emergency telecommunications and in coordinating the planning for, and provisioning of, NS/EP communications for the Federal Government under all circumstances.  In this regard, the Office of the Manager, NCS (OMNCS), particularly its Technology and Programs Division (N2), always seeks to improve the Federal Government's ability to respond to National Security and Emergency Preparedness situations. As part of this mission, the N2 division identifies new technologies that enhance NS/EP communications capabilities and ensures key NS/EP features such as priority, interoperability, reliability, availability, and security are supported by emerging standards.  In concert with this approach, the N2 manages the Federal Telecommunications Standards Program. Additionally, the N2 division directs efforts in both NS/EP management and applications services. 

National Security and Emergency Preparedness requirements fall into the areas [1] [2] as shown in Table 1.1, and are identified in the Convergence Task Force Report [3]. 

The goal of this Technical Information Bulletin (TIB) is to: 

• Examine Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems 

• Describe how SCADA systems have evolved since being deployed in the 1960s 

• Examine how SCADA protocols have evolved from strictly proprietary to the development of open protocols which allow equipment from various manufacturers to work together 

• Addresses the security aspects of SCADA systems 

• Examines the standards that currently exist or are being drafted to help support the growth of these systems 

• Observations, conclusions, and recommendations on how these technologies could support the NCS and their NS/EP and CIP mission.

TABLE  1.1:MATRIX OF NE/EP REQUIREMENTS

FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS	DESCRIPTION
Enhanced Priority Treatment	Voice and data services supporting NS/EP missions should be preferential treatment over other traffic
Secure Network	These services ensure the availability and survivability of the network, prevent corruption of or unauthorized access to the data, and provide for expanded encryption techniques and user authentication.
Restorability	Should a service disruption occur, voice and data services must be capable of being reprovisioned, repaired, or restored to required service levels on a priority basis
International Connectivity	Voice and data services must provide access to and egress from international carriers
Interoperability	Voice and data services must interconnect and interoperate with other government or private facilities, systems, and networks
Mobility	The ability of voice and data infrastructure to support transportable, redeploy able, or fully mobile voice and data communications (i.e., Personal Communications Service (PCS), cellular, satellite, High Frequency (HF) radio)
Nationwide Coverage	Voice and data services must be readily available to support the National security leadership and inter- and intra-agency emergency operations, wherever they are located
Survivability	Voice and data services must be robust to support surviving users under a broad range of circumstances, from the widespread damage of a natural or manmade disaster up to and including nuclear war
Voice Band Service	The service must provide voice band service in support of presidential communications
Scaleable Bandwidth	NS/EP users must be able to manage the capacity of the communications services to support variable bandwidth requirements
Addressability	Addressability is the ability to easily route voice and data traffic to NS/EP users regardless of user location or deployment status.  Means by which this may be accomplished include “follow me” or functional numbering, call forwarding, and functional directories
Affordability	The service must leverage new Public Network (PN) capabilities to minimize cost.  Means by which this may be accomplished favor the use of Commercial Off-The- Shelf (COTS) technologies and services and existing infrastructure
Reliability	The capability of an information or telecommunications system to perform consistently and precisely according to its specifications and design requirements, and to do so with high confidence