This was the terrifying part. They had three AS 400 automation stations driving the pumps. They had updated the firmware on the CPUs to support the new V9.1 features.
PCS 7 V9.1 SP2 is built to support the increasing demand for plant data transparency. SIMATIC PCS 7 - What's New (V9.1 SP2) - Support siemens pcs7 v91 sp2
Updated support for Siemens industrial PC rack systems (547J, 647E, 847E) under Windows Server 2019 for virtualization environments. Software Updates & Compatibility This was the terrifying part
“Of course,” Elias muttered. The old code had custom DBs that used non-standard naming. The new SP2’s optimizer didn’t like them. PCS 7 V9
Here is a technical narrative titled which walks through the features and challenges of implementing PCS 7 V9.1 SP2.
However, Sarah flagged a warning. "Mark, check the security settings. V9.1 SP2 has stricter default security policies." Mark nodded. In the past, they might have ignored security for ease of access, but with ransomware targeting OT networks, they enabled the features right out of the box—hardening the OS and configuring user authentication to align with IEC 62443 standards.
With the rise of cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, Siemens has bolstered security in SP2. Key updates include: