Default Passwords May Cause Some Issues - Change Them As Soon As Possible

 A friend of mine reported the following in a SCADA and cyber-security related group:

"The recent cyber-attack on that small water facility outside of Pittsburg is getting increased attention (certainly on this list) . The model and manufacturer of the device in question are known.  The manufacturer's web site has some  documentation on the device, but I do not think they provide the  device's default password.

No need to look hard, it is listed in plain site on CISA's bulletin (below)."

Exploitation of Unitronics PLCs used in Water and Wastewater Systems Release Date November 28, 2023 

Oops.

The Top 20 PLC tips and practices for better, more secure PLC programming

Jake Brodsky wrote the other day:

"Among the tribes of engineers, there are certain things we just have to learn by doing. One of them is PLC programming. Somehow, we engineers are expected to emerge from college knowing good practices for programming a PLC. Some of us older engineers learned to program using FORTRAN. If we were lucky, we learned about structured programming. The millennial engineers may have had the benefit of learning about object oriented programming. Maybe it was a class in C++. But data structures were something that they were just “supposed to know.” And engineering educations today? If we’re lucky, they’ll see a course in how to sling code in Python. That’s what my son did when he was studying in a pre-engineering course.

My point is that most engineers discover good programming practices the hard way. We learn on the job. I stumbled across this many years ago. I started collecting tips, tricks, and experiences from my colleagues ..."

Check out his collected writings - worth to read:

The Top 20 PLC tips and practices for better, more secure PLC programming are now online:

Click HERE for the website.

IEC 61850 Server integrated in CODESYS Development System, Version 3.5 Service Pack 3 or later

3S-Smart Software Solutions GmbH (Kempten, Germany) has developed a CODESYS IEC 61850 Server that is completely integrated in the CODESYS Development System and provides implementation for users according to the first version of the standard.

Intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) according to IEC 61850 can be configured directly from the CODESYS Development System and employed as servers in energy networks. The configured servers render real generated data from the network units (IED) into messages and reports that can be used for further processing by connected IEC 61850 clients.

Minimum software requirements are:

• CODESYS Development System, Version 3.5 Service Pack 3 or later
• IEC 61850 server library adapted to the runtime system, in order to be able to use the SNTP

Click HERE for more details.

It is likely that IEC 61850 will be used more often in the factory automation and process control applications – because CODESYS is well known in these domains.

Reduced the Complexity of IEC 61850 to a Beautiful Simplicity

One of the crucial challenges using IEC 61850 is the complexity of IEC 61850 – maybe you have made this experience. There is a beautiful way to simplify. Interested to learn about this way? Read this post.

• IEC 61850 and IEC 60870-5-104 (DNP3) are well known and used standards for many application domains all over.
• IEC 60870-5-104 and DNP3 are the preferred solutions for Tele-Control and Tele-Monitoring. They provide simple exchange of status, measurements, counters, and control commands.
• These protocols are implemented in most control centers and SCADA systems.
• IEC 61850 is the preferred solution for information management for substation protection, monitoring, and automation.
• The need for collecting more condition monitoring information from process equipment like transformers, switch gears, cable, … is preferably implemented by IEC 61850.
• One crucial challenge is: How can the huge amount of IEC 61850 based information easily be carried by IEC 60870-5-104 (DNP3)?
• A set of slides shows the beauty of a very simple and powerful gateway.

Want to see a live demo? Visit us at the SPS/IPC/Drives Fair in Nuremberg (Germany) on November 28-29, 2013, hall 9 / booth 341.

Click HERE for a free ticket. I look forward to meeting you there.
Click HERE for the complete slide set on the Beautiful Simplicity [68 pages, pdf, 3.9 MB].

The solution is based on the Beck IPC@CHIP solution:

The core component is a WEB-PLC that is used to graphically program your Gateway based on Input and Output signals:

(almost) all you need to do is to connect graphically Inputs and Outputs with each other or other logic (AND, OR, …):

Use the WEB-PLC for binary inputs and outputs or for reporting of measured values:

com.tom Energy Flyer [English]
com.tom Energy Flyer [Deutsch]

Any question? Contact us.