Modbus Workshop Runs an Oil Pumping Station Inside Labshock
Attendees configured SCADA and PLC systems, issued Modbus commands against a simulated oil pumping station, then read their own traffic back and found the unauthorised access in it.
July 14, 2025 — The OT SIEM training workshop run with the Institute of Cybersecurity Excellence has been delivered, with Modbus protocol security worked through on a running industrial process rather than described.
The session built an oil pumping station inside Labshock and took attendees through it end to end: configuring the SCADA and PLC systems, issuing Modbus commands against them, analysing the resulting traffic as it moved, identifying unauthorised access in it, and detecting the threat with an IDS.
That sequence is the point. Each step produces the input for the next one, so the traffic being analysed is traffic the attendee caused, and the unauthorised access they are asked to spot is one they can go back and repeat.
The reason for practising it somewhere safe is straightforward. OT systems run oil, gas and utilities, one breach can stop them, and the plant itself is never an acceptable place to learn.
Labshock thanks the Institute of Cybersecurity Excellence, and Rakesh Kumar and Meamoona Qadeer for organising the session. Attendees left with a certificate and the training materials.
Media enquiries: info@labshocksecurity.com