Industrial Cybersecurity & OT Risk worked example

SCADA Outage Cost at 81% affected scada operating scope: a worked example

This scenario runs the scada outage cost calculation on the strong side: 81% affected scada operating scope, with every other input held at its documented default. Use it when evaluating SCADA server, HMI, historian, or operator visibility downtime exposure.

The inputs for this scenario

  • SCADA outage hours: 10 hr (unchanged)
  • Operational cost per outage hour: 14,500 $ / hr (unchanged)
  • Affected SCADA operating scope: 81 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 70)
  • Fixed SCADA recovery cost: 22,000 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Variable SCADA outage cost = SCADA outage hours × operational cost per outage hour × affected SCADA operating scope) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 139,450 $ for total scada outage cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 13,945 $ / hr for operational cost per outage hour.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 117,450 $ for variable scada outage cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 22,000 $ for fixed scada recovery cost.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where affected scada operating scope sits at 70% and the headline result is 123,500 $, this scenario comes in 12.91% above the baseline at 139,450 $.
  • Use it when building a cyber-risk business case, sizing OT cyber-insurance, or estimating the impact of a specific outage scenario. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Total SCADA outage cost: 139,450 $ (headline result)
  • Operational cost per outage hour: 13,945 $ / hr
  • Variable SCADA outage cost: 117,450 $
  • Fixed SCADA recovery cost: 22,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live SCADA Outage Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.