Electric motors burnout all the time - most systems would have a separate controller (PLC and/or a Variable Frequency Drive) actually controlling the pump motor - normally able to run standalone (because the pump sites are often remote to the SCADA and comms. do go down) - its a long shot to suggest a burnt out pump motor was caused by a compromised SCADA.
I believe they said that they had been turning the power on and off for a while, trying to short circuit it.
Cheers - I must have missed that bit - sorry - motors are rated for n starts per hour - because during the start they consume or convert quite a bit more energy then steady state running and get a lot hotter - when they do get too hot the insulation on their little wires fails and they burn out - which does indeed cause a short circuit - it's just that the motors are rarely controlled by the SCADA directly and are more likely to be controlled by the water level in a tank or the pressure in a pipe (using a variable frequency drive) - the control loops are normally tight and local - SCADA's are remote and expected to fail, or go offline. But yes access to the SCADA could indeed be used to influence a motors starting and stopping - so thanks. Humm a motor starting and stopping all the time smacks of a faulty water level gauge or pressure gauge - it get's so hard to to be sure in such matters.