Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Anna Palmin

Benjamin Lutz

Oliver Drumm

Gerrit Wolf

Jochen Balduf

Marwin Madsen

A client-server architecture for a control system of a technical installation, wherein the client-server architecture includes at least one first device formed as a client and at least one second device that formed as a server assigned to the client, where the client is configured to establish contact with the server, and is configured to execute a code received from the server, communication from the client to the control system exists via the server which is configured to detect whether the code, which the client executes, corresponds to the code that the client received from the server, and where the server, in the event of the code not corresponding, is further configured to interrupt the execution of the code by the client and lock the client out of communication with the control system.

Detecting manipulated clients in a control system

A control system for a technical installation, in particular a manufacturing facility or process plant, includes at least one first operator station server and one second operator station server and is configured to initiate the issuance and revocation of certificates for components of the technical installation as part of certificate management, and is configured to publish revocation of a previously issued certificate within the control system as a certificate revocation list, where the control system is configured to store the certificate revocation list on the first operator station server and/or on the second operator station server, where the control system is configured to synchronize the first operator station server and the second operator station server with one another such that a certificate revocation list with identical content is stored on both operator station servers.

Method and control system for technical installations with certificate management

A control system for a technical installation, in particular a process or manufacturing installation, includes at least one component upon which a certificate service is computer implemented, wherein the certificate service is configured to check a certificate store that is assigned to the component or a further component to determine whether two or more certificates, which only differ from one another in terms of their validity period, are stored in the certificate store, and in the event of the check identifying two or more certificates of this type, to initiate revocation and removal from the certificate store of the certificate or certificates with the validity period that ends the earliest, such that only the certificate with the validity period that ends the latest remains stored in the certificate store.

Control system for a technical installation and method for removing one or more certificates

A method for handling security alarms by a control system of a technical installation includes a) receiving diagnostic messages that have been generated by technical objects () of a technical installation; b) analyzing the diagnostic messages such that diagnostic messages relevant to the security of an operation of the technical installation are identified by means of comparative data records, where a machine learning network is used to analyze the diagnostic messages to assess the security relevance of the diagnostic messages, where the network is previously trained using special inputs from operators of the technical installation that have assessed past diagnostic messages with regard to their security relevance; c) if necessary, adapting the previously identified diagnostic messages to requirements of a computer-implemented security module of the technical installation and d) transmitting the previously identified and optionally adapted diagnostic messages to the computer-implemented security module of the technical installation.

Security-relevant diagnostic messages

A method for project-oriented authentication of a device in a control system for a technical installation as part of an engineering project, wherein the control system includes at least one local registration service, at least one software inventory and a certification center, where information by the at least one local registration service with respect to what communication protocols and/or applications are supported by the device and/or are active is ascertained during authentication of the device within the control system, a project-oriented device certificate is requested from the first hierarchy of the certification center by the local registration service, and the project-oriented device certificate is deposited in an inventory element, associated with the engineering project, of the software inventory of the control system, the device certificates being issuable by the first hierarchy of the certification center have a unique project identifier.

Project-oriented certificate management

System and method for secure time synchronization in an industrial facility, wherein a synchronization request of a facility component is transmitted to a registration service of a certificate management of the facility and the synchronization request is examined by the registration service, where the synchronization request includes a signature of the requesting facility component, and where depending on an outcome of the examination, a synchronization response is then transmitted to the requesting facility component a system time of the facility component is matched to a system time of the registration service based on the synchronization response.

Method and system for secure time synchronization

An operator station server of a technical installation upon which a certification service is implemented, wherein the certification service is configured to receive configuration information, which depends on a role of the operator station server in the technical installation, from at least one of (i) an engineering station server and (ii) a registration service of the technical installation, where the configuration information comprises information identifying which certificates of the certification service of the operator station server must be requested from a certification authority of the technical installation.

Automated public key infrastructure initialization

A process control system includes an engineering system for a project configuration of hardware and software components of a process control system, an operator system having a runtime component for operator control and monitoring of a technical process, and an archive system for archiving project configuration inputs of the engineering system and for archiving operator inputs in the operator system, via which a project engineer and/or an operator may be provided with the relationships between engineering-relevant actions or events and runtime-relevant actions or events.

Process control system with an engineering system, an operator system and an archive system

A method for initially allocating and/or renewing certificates for devices and/or applications in a control system for a technical installation on the basis of certificates, wherein the devices and/or applications, within a framework of the initial allocation and/or renewal of the certificates, use a certificate management protocol to post a certificate request at at least one certification authority of the technical installation, where the devices and/or applications, in addition to the certificate management protocol, implement a certification service that generates a stateless alarm message and provides this generated stateless alarm message in the control system, when a certificate request previously posted by the device and/or the application is unanswered by the certification authority after expiration of a previously determined period of time.

Automated certificate management

A method and technical module in a technical installation, which includes at least one technical function and which is configured for integration into a higher-level control level of the technical installation, wherein functional rights relating to the at least one technical function are stored in the technical module.

Integration of package units in an engineering system

An automation system includes at least one automation unit, multiple automation servers and a central management unit interconnected via a communication network, wherein the automation servers communicate with the automation unit using a pre validated certificate of the automation unit, where in order to validate the certificate, the automation servers check a chain of trust of the respective certificate and, by accessing a black list, the validity thereof, where communication of the respective chain of trust only occurs when corresponding chains of trust are revoked from all other automation servers beforehand, corresponding certificates are entered into the black list or the certificate is otherwise invalid.

System and method for dynamic allocation of automation units to automation servers

The invention relates to a method for ensuring the authenticity of at least one value of a device property wherein the device property is a characteristic of a device (). According to the invention, at least one operating value () of at least one dynamic device property is signed using a digital key (), wherein an operating-dependent digital signature () is generated.

Ensuring authenticity of at least one value of a device property

A method for authenticating devices and/or applications, specifically web applications, in a control system for an industrial plant, wherein the control system includes at least one local registration service and at least one software inventory, where the method includes determining by the at least one local registration service information about which communications protocols and/or applications are supported by the devices and/or applications and/or which communications protocols and/or applications are active, during authentication of the devices and/or applications within the control system, and storing the device-specific information determined by the local registration service in the at least one software inventory of the control system.

Plant-specific, automated certificate management

A method for operating an automation facility, wherein and to an the automation facility includes a simulation server, which has a simulation framework for simulation of the process behavior of sensors and/or actuators in accordance with a simulation model, where a large number of simulation models is stored in the simulation server, which can be loaded into the simulation framework, includes a simulation interface for simulating the communication behavior of the sensors and/or actuators and for connecting the modelled process behavior to a controller, and includes an operator system for process control and process operation such that it becomes possible to verify, in a simplified manner within the context of what is known as a 'Factory Acceptance Test' (FAT) during the test or during the verification of functionality, whether testing was performed with the simulation models provided for this purpose.

Automation facility and method for operating the automation facility

An automation network includes a plurality of data processing devices that are connected to one another for data communication. At least one data processing device in a first state, from the plurality of data processing devices, is preconfigured such that it generates corresponding messages upon identifying one or more security-relevant events. The messages are transmitted to at least one first software tool configured to record and evaluate the messages to determine whether there is a security-relevant attack on the automation network. The messages are transmitted to a second software tool configured to record and evaluate the messages and to determine whether the corresponding messages are generated by the at least one data processing device.

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Karlsruhe, Germany

Anna Palmin