M4 - Critical Infas

How does a protocol’s position in the OSI model affect its security concerns?

Protocols at different layers expose different attack surfaces

Why are many legacy industrial protocols considered insecure?

They were never designed with security features

What is the main function of backend protocols in industrial networks?

Communication between HMIs, historians, and databases

What is the one reason proprietary industrial protocols pose a challenge to security monitoring?

Their behavior is often undocumented or out-of-spec

Why is it difficult to retrofit encryption onto industrial protocols?

Encryption introduces latency that disrupts real-time control

Which of the following describes Modbus in its traditional implementation?

Plaintext and unauthenticated

Why are vendor-specific protocol extensions considered a cybersecurity concern?

They may introduce undocumented behavior

Which type of protocol is typically used at the lowest layers of industrial systems?

Fieldbus protocol

Which protocol type typically supports deterministic real-time performance?

Fieldbus

What is a commonly recommended mitigation for insecure industrial protocols?

Encapsulating traffic in secure tunnels