SCADA systems are used to monitor and control equipment and processes in industries like oil/gas, water treatment, and manufacturing. They gather data in real-time from remote locations and send control commands back. SCADA has evolved through 3 generations from standalone monolithic systems to distributed systems on local networks to today's networked systems using open standards and wide area networks. Security issues need to be addressed like encrypting communications, securing devices, auditing networks, and implementing threat protection. The future of SCADA involves more sophisticated systems that can handle huge data volumes and territories with some having artificial intelligence capabilities.