EC-Council · ICS-SCADA
Validates the ability to secure industrial control systems and SCADA networks, covering ICS/SCADA network defense, vulnerability assessment, risk analysis for IT and OT environments, intrusion detection, ICS-specific standards and regulations, and incident response for critical infrastructure.
Questions
627
Duration
120 minutes
Passing Score
70%
Difficulty
SpecialtyLast Updated
Feb 2026
Use this ICS-SCADA practice exam to prepare for ICS/SCADA Cybersecurity with realistic questions, detailed explanations, and focused study modes. The practice bank includes 627 questions for EC-Council ICS-SCADA, so you can review the exam steadily instead of relying on one long cram session.
As you practice, pay extra attention to patterns in your missed answers. Start with short sessions to identify weak areas, then move into timed quizzes once your accuracy is consistent.
The explanations are especially useful when you want to connect exam wording to the responsibilities and scenarios described in the official certification guidance. Use the free preview first, then unlock the full question bank when you are ready to build a complete study routine.
The EC-Council ICS/SCADA Cybersecurity certification validates a professional's ability to defend Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) networks against cyber threats. The certification covers the full spectrum of OT/IT security—from foundational TCP/IP networking and ICS-specific protocols to advanced topics such as vulnerability management, intrusion detection, digital forensics, and incident response tailored to critical infrastructure environments. Candidates learn to analyze risk across both IT corporate networks and operational technology (OT) environments, with particular focus on the unique architectural and protocol challenges that distinguish ICS/SCADA systems from traditional enterprise IT.
The certification addresses the growing threat landscape targeting critical infrastructure, including documented malware such as Stuxnet and Triton/TRISIS that can cause physical disruption to industrial processes. It bridges the security gap between IT and OT environments by providing defenders with attacker-perspective methodologies—scanning, footprinting, enumeration, and exploitation techniques—so that practitioners can better anticipate and counter adversary tactics against pipelines, energy grids, water treatment facilities, and manufacturing systems.
This certification is designed for IT and OT professionals who administer, patch, or secure ICS and SCADA systems, including System Administrators and System Engineers working in industrial environments such as oil and gas, energy, utilities, and manufacturing. Security Consultants who conduct security assessments of ICS/SCADA installations are also a primary audience, as are Business Systems Analysts who support interfaces between corporate business systems and SCADA networks.
The credential is appropriate for mid-career professionals with a networking and security background who are transitioning into or expanding responsibilities within operational technology environments. It suits those who need a foundational-to-intermediate understanding of ICS/SCADA-specific threats, standards, and defensive strategies, and who are responsible for establishing or maintaining information security policies for critical infrastructure.
There are no mandatory formal prerequisites published by EC-Council for this exam, but candidates are strongly recommended to have Linux operating system fundamentals including basic command-line usage before attempting the course or exam. A solid grasp of essential networking concepts is expected—specifically the OSI model, TCP/IP protocol architecture, networking devices, and transmission media. Familiarity with network traffic inspection tools such as Wireshark, TShark, or TCPdump is also recommended, as is conceptual knowledge of programming or scripting.
Candidates should additionally possess a working understanding of basic cybersecurity concepts including malware categories, intrusion detection systems, firewalls, and common vulnerabilities. Prior exposure to IT security operations or a general security certification (such as CompTIA Security+) would be beneficial, though not required. Minors seeking to sit the exam must provide written parental consent along with institutional documentation per EC-Council policy.
The ICS-SCADA exam consists of 75 multiple-choice questions and must be completed within a 2-hour (120-minute) time limit. The passing score is 70%. The exam is delivered through EC-Council's ECC Exam Center, which provides proctored testing in a controlled environment. Question types are multiple-choice with a single correct answer, testing both conceptual knowledge and applied understanding of ICS/SCADA security principles.
EC-Council publishes an official Exam Blueprint document (available at cert.eccouncil.org) that outlines the topic domains and their respective weightings, which candidates are advised to use as a primary study guide. There are no publicly disclosed unscored or beta questions built into the exam format at this time.
Professionals holding the EC-Council ICS/SCADA Cybersecurity certification are positioned for roles such as ICS/SCADA Security Analyst, OT Security Engineer, Critical Infrastructure Security Consultant, and Industrial Cybersecurity Specialist. These roles exist across high-demand sectors including energy and utilities, oil and gas, water and wastewater, manufacturing, and transportation—all of which face increasing regulatory pressure and threat actor attention. The ICS/SCADA security skills market remains undersupplied relative to demand, with practitioners who can bridge IT and OT security commanding premium compensation, typically in the range of $90,000–$140,000+ USD annually depending on sector and geography.
The EC-Council ICS-SCADA credential serves as a solid entry point into OT cybersecurity and complements other certifications such as GICSP (Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional by GIAC) or ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity certificates. While GICSP is more widely recognized at the senior level, the EC-Council certification offers a more accessible path for professionals transitioning from general IT security into the industrial domain, and is particularly useful for those already embedded in EC-Council's certification ecosystem (CEH, CPENT, CHFI).
5 sample questions with answers and explanations. Start a practice session to test yourself across all 627 questions.
Preview — answers shown1. A security architect designs an ICS network following IEC 62443 standards and conducts a risk assessment. The asset owner determines that a specific zone containing DCS controllers requires Security Level Target (SL-T) of 3 for all foundational requirements. After deployment, security testing reveals the zone achieves Security Level Achieved (SL-A) of 2 for FR4 (Data Confidentiality) due to legacy device limitations, while all other foundational requirements meet SL-3. The deployed components have native Security Level Capability (SL-C) ratings of 2. Which action should the security architect recommend to achieve compliance? (Select one!)
Explanation
IEC 62443 allows compensating countermeasures when native component capabilities cannot meet target security levels. Network encryption appliances, VPN gateways, or protocol gateways can supplement device limitations to achieve the required SL-T for specific foundational requirements. Replacing all devices is unnecessarily expensive and disruptive. Reducing SL-T contradicts the risk assessment findings and asset owner requirements. Documenting as accepted risk without implementing compensating controls violates IEC 62443 compliance requirements when technical solutions are available.
2. A critical infrastructure organization evaluates data transfer options between OT and IT networks for historian replication. Security requirements mandate that no return traffic from IT to OT is physically possible, even in the event of malware compromise. Which technology provides hardware-enforced unidirectional data flow? (Select one!)
Explanation
Data diodes provide hardware-enforced one-way transfer using optical components where the source side has transmit-only capability and the destination side has receive-only capability, making return traffic physically impossible. This hardware enforcement cannot be bypassed by software or malware. Next-generation firewalls use software rules that can potentially be compromised or misconfigured. IPsec VPN requires bidirectional communication for key exchange and acknowledgments. Application-layer gateways rely on software controls that do not provide physical enforcement. Major data diode vendors include Waterfall Security and Owl Cyber Defense for OT-to-IT historian replication use cases.
3. An industrial network engineer is implementing network segmentation following the Purdue Enterprise Reference Architecture for a manufacturing facility. The design includes an industrial DMZ at Level 3.5 to mediate IT-OT communication. Which two systems should be placed in the industrial DMZ? (Select two!)
Multiple correct answersExplanation
The industrial DMZ (Level 3.5) should contain historian mirror servers that replicate data from OT historians, allowing IT systems to access production data without direct OT network access. Patch staging servers belong in the DMZ to download updates from IT networks and stage them for controlled deployment to OT systems. Primary SCADA servers must remain in Level 2 (OT network) for direct control of production processes—placing them in the DMZ introduces unacceptable latency and security risks. Engineering workstations belong in Level 3 (site operations) where they can directly program PLCs. Primary domain controllers should never be placed in the DMZ as compromise would affect both IT and OT domains—read-only domain controllers may be used if absolutely necessary.
4. A manufacturing facility security architect designs network monitoring for ICS following the Purdue Model. Network taps are preferred over SPAN ports for traffic collection. What is the primary technical advantage of network TAPs over switch SPAN ports for ICS monitoring? (Select one!)
Explanation
Network TAPs (Test Access Points) provide complete, lossless copies of all network traffic by physically splitting the optical or electrical signal, guaranteeing that every packet is captured even under high network load conditions. This is critical for ICS monitoring where missing packets could mean missing security events or failing to detect protocol anomalies. SPAN (Switched Port Analyzer) ports are switch-based mirroring that may drop packets during high utilization because the switch prioritizes forwarding traffic over mirroring, and SPAN ports share switch backplane bandwidth with production traffic. Network TAPs cannot decrypt SSL/TLS traffic any better than SPAN ports, as decryption requires cryptographic keys regardless of capture method. TAPs are passive devices that cannot block traffic. TAPs are typically more expensive than configuring SPAN ports, but the reliability justifies the cost in critical ICS monitoring applications.
5. A petroleum refinery implements a compensating control strategy for legacy Windows XP systems running proprietary DCS software that cannot be upgraded. The systems are isolated on a dedicated VLAN with no internet access. Which combination of three compensating controls provides the most effective security posture? (Select three!)
Multiple correct answersExplanation
Application whitelisting prevents execution of unauthorized or malicious code by only allowing known-good applications to run, providing strong protection against malware even without patches. Virtual patching through IPS provides network-based protection by blocking exploit attempts targeting known vulnerabilities before they reach the vulnerable system, compensating for the inability to patch. USB device control prevents introduction of malware through removable media, which is a primary infection vector for air-gapped systems (as demonstrated by Stuxnet). These three controls address the main attack vectors: code execution, network exploitation, and removable media. Signature-based antivirus has limited value because signatures for new threats cannot detect zero-days and XP-era antivirus lacks modern behavioral detection. Virtualizing Windows 10 to run DCS software that requires Windows XP is technically infeasible as the proprietary DCS software is certified only for XP. Host-based firewalls provide some value but are less critical than application whitelisting and virtual patching in this scenario where network segmentation already exists.
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