Why are Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems important? SCADA is a combination of hardware and software that enables the automation of industrial processes by capturing Operational Technology data. One example is the Ghost variant ransomware against a California-based water and wastewater system. And what happened was that ransomware was placed on their system facility and it had been on there for a month before they discovered it. This is why SCADA systems are important to protect because SCADA systems are used in many different industries to collect and analyze real-time data, also to control functions, which makes them a target to malicious hackers. This past summer, I was working on summer research at Bowie State University. I was studying digital twins and how to use digital twins in incident response to improve the security of water systems for small cities. A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system that spans its lifecycle, is updated in real-time, and uses simulation, machine learning, and reasoning to help decision-making. I research Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and SCADA, designed a digital twin of a water treatment system, explored incident response algorithms, and modeled an Incident response system’s behavior. When I was designing the digital twin of my water system I had to use Microsoft Azure Digital Twins. This cloud computing service was new to me so it was difficult to maneuver around so I spent time going through Microsoft Azure's walkthroughs and documentation. After I got a basic understanding of how Azure works I made a digital twin with a water source, three pumps, a treatment plant, a storage tank, and a city. There were three use cases I could choose from to implement my semantic attack in my python code. I chose to simulate an attack on the pH level of the treatment plant in my model. My incident response was my if statements and the color alert system. The red alert indicated the pH is at a dangerous level, the orange would only notify the operator the pH is getting too high, and the green was normal pH values. My decision points were is the pH is above 8.5 or below 6.5(red), is the pH between 7.5 and 8.5(orange), or is the pH between 6.5 and 7.5(green). Coding in python was a good challenge. In order to connect the digital twins to python I had to use a SQL and print every updated value to a log in excel, something I had never done before. I used a lot of forums and videos to accomplish this. At the last week of the program I was able to successful update the digital twin from python and copy what was printed to excel. I believe the best part of this project was meeting with SMEs every week and having their input to think beyond the surface level. This project has given me a deeper look into the technology industry. I love how I'm always learning in this field and there is always room for improvement in myself and technology.

There have been many influences in life that shaped us into the person we are today. These people affected our moral values, character, and most importantly our faith. The most influential people in my life have always been the people closest to me. This past year has been a real struggle for everyone, but the person that has helped me change my perspective on faith and pushed me through this pandemic tremendously was my friend, Anaya. She had so many tragic events happen to her and her family this past year and yet she still was happy and grateful. I remember I asked her “ how could you be so happy during all of this” and you know what she told me? She said, “ Melody, I'm happy because I could’ve been dead but I'm not so I thank God and show my gratitude because things could've been different”. When she said that, I realized that I had been selfish and needed to change the way I was thinking about my life. She showed me that even through tough times you can always find something to smile about. At first, it was hard to try and change the way you view life so I asked her for some help and we had a bible study on Facetime a couple of times a week. We talked about so many different ways to become a better Christian but most importantly she showed me how she overcame her struggles. This semester physics was the hardest class for me no matter how hard I tried. I would always stress out every week to get the homework and quizzes completed and done the right way. After a while, I got tired of stressing out so I read some chapters Anaya gave me and I prayed that God would give strength, knowledge, and peacefulness. The next day, I felt the weight lift off my shoulders and I was filled with joy. That night while doing my homework I understood how to do it. I finally realized what people were trying to tell me about how easy life is when you put God first and trust in him. I then called Anaya the next day and told her what happened and I couldn’t believe how simple life could be. I started to use her advice in everything I do whether that is volleyball or school. I learned that there are going to be times where you will have to learn how to truly have faith in God to work it out and to be happy even if life is not going the way you want it to. My plans in life are to be a successful computer programmer but also be a well-rounded Christian. Anaya also taught me that being happy shouldn’t be a job, it should be your desire to want to know more. Applying my friends’ advice to everything I do now will set me up for a better future because I will not be trying to figure out everything on my own but by putting trust in God that he will work it out if it is not meant for me with a smile on my face.