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IEC 62443 overview

Zone assignment with reasons

Which zone does this alert belong to, and why

27 detections, each placed in exactly one zone. The rule is where the finding is measured rather than where the packet came from: a write is judged in the zone it landed in, a missing brokered session is judged in the DMZ that should have carried it. Disagree with a placement and the reason is right there to argue with.

Zone checklist and protection profiles

Safety instrumented systemtarget SL3

Any writable state on the safety controller during a run. The safety system is watched, never commanded.

Safety controller key switch reported in PROGRAM

T0858 · FR2 · safety-interlock-forced

The key switch is the safety zone's own state, and PROGRAM during a run is the profile breach by itself.

Force active on interlock IL-7, refreshed on a keep-alive

T0878 · FR3 · safety-interlock-forced

An interlock force lives in the safety instrumented system and nowhere else.

Pressure above trip point, trip suppressed by active force

T0880 · FR7 · safety-interlock-forced

A trip point reached without a trip is the safety zone failing its availability requirement in the only way that matters.

Line control zonetarget SL3

A write the register cannot account for, or two masters contesting the same controller.

Write function code from a host registered as read-only

T0836 · FR1 · unauthorized-setpoint-write

The write lands on a controller inside the line control zone. Whatever sent it, the identification failure is measured where the command took effect.

conduit C-01

Fill weight above tolerance on line 2

T0831 · FR3 · unauthorized-setpoint-write

Fill weight is the process the control zone owns; the deviation is the integrity finding for that zone, not for the historian that reported it.

Setpoint moved twice within thirty seconds — faster than an operator works

T0855 · FR6 · unauthorized-setpoint-write

A step rate no operator could work at is judged against the panel that is supposed to be the only source of setpoints.

New MAC learned on a patch-panel port that belongs to the office side

T0822 · FR5 · engineering-laptop-dual-homed

The address was learned on a plant-side patch panel port, so the control zone is the one whose restricted data flow has been broken.

Device identification read from an address not in the asset register

T0846 · FR1 · engineering-laptop-dual-homed

Device identification is read off controllers in the control zone, and the unknown address is missing from that zone's register.

Controller mode changed RUN to PROGRAM during a production run

T0858 · FR2 · firmware-push-in-run

RUN to PROGRAM is a use-control decision about a controller in the line control zone during production.

HMI lost communications with the capper mid-transfer

T0857 · FR3 · firmware-push-in-run

Loss of view sits with the panel and controller pair in the control zone, which is where the operator notices it.

Capper controller stopped answering its poll — line function unavailable

T0814 · FR7 · firmware-push-in-run

A controller that stops answering its poll is a control-zone availability finding.

Control protocol from an address with no asset-register entry

T0848 · FR1 · rogue-modbus-master

Control protocol from an address with no register entry is measured in the zone whose register it should have been in.

Two masters writing to the same controller

T0855 · FR2 · rogue-modbus-master

Two masters on one controller is a use-control finding about the control zone's own devices.

Control-zone flow that crossed no declared conduit

T0848 · FR5 · rogue-modbus-master

The flow entered the control zone without crossing a declared conduit, so the restricted data flow that failed is that zone's.

conduit C-01

Line setpoint changing to whichever master wrote last — operator control contested

T0831 · FR7 · rogue-modbus-master

Contested setpoints take the control room's hands off the line — availability, judged in the control zone.

Second interactive session on the panel while the operator is signed in

T0859 · FR1 · hmi-remote-session

The panel sits at supervisory level inside the control zone, and a second interactive session is that zone's identification failure.

Conveyor stop and start not initiated at the panel

T0831 · FR6 · hmi-remote-session

A conveyor start that did not come from the panel is a control-zone decision about who may command the process.

Duplicate address detected on the field VLAN

T0830 · FR3 · serial-gateway-spoof

The duplicate is on the field VLAN the control zone owns, and address integrity there is a control-zone requirement.

Two answers for the same register, and they disagree

T0856 · FR6 · serial-gateway-spoof

Two answers for one register is a control-zone integrity finding, whichever host is doing the answering.

Reported value healthy while motor current says the pump has stopped

T0832 · FR7 · serial-gateway-spoof

The screen and the instrument disagree in the control room, so the loss of view is judged where the operator is standing.

Site operations zonetarget SL2

Bulk archive reads, a new egress destination, or a program download sourced anywhere else.

Program download from a host that is not the licensed engineering workstation

T0843 · FR2 · firmware-push-in-run

The licensed engineering workstation lives in site operations, so a download from anywhere else is that zone's identification failure before it is the controller's.

conduit C-01

Historian egress volume far above its nightly baseline

T0882 · FR4 · historian-exfil

The historian and its archive belong to site operations, and the confidentiality of batch records is that zone's requirement.

Bulk archive read outside any reporting window

T0811 · FR6 · historian-exfil

A bulk read outside a reporting window is judged against the operations zone's own reporting practice.

Historian interface in promiscuous mode with no capture job to explain it

T0842 · FR5 · historian-exfil

The interface is the historian's, and an unexplained capture posture is that host's zone problem.

Industrial DMZtarget SL2

A plant-side session with no matching DMZ leg — a conduit nobody declared.

Plant-side host has no session through the OT DMZ

T0822 · FR5 · engineering-laptop-dual-homed

The finding is an absence in the DMZ: the plant-side session has no brokered leg, so the zone that should have carried it has nothing to show.

conduit C-03

Historian talking to a destination it has never used

T0882 · FR5 · historian-exfil

A destination the historian has never used is a boundary finding: the replication conduit is the thing that was abused.

conduit C-02

Remote-desktop protocol into Level 2 outside the sanctioned path

T0822 · FR2 · hmi-remote-session

Remote access into the control room is supposed to be brokered; the path that skipped the broker is the DMZ's finding.

conduit C-03

Timeline stages, placed by depth

A stage is a movement rather than an observation, so it is placed by how deep it reaches: access, discovery and lateral movement against the outermost zone the scenario touches, anything acting on the process against the innermost one.

A setpoint was written by something that is not the HMI

  • Z-OPS Lateral Movement — A Level 3 host opens a control-protocol session straight onto Level 1. Lateral Movement is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.
  • Z-CONTROL Impair Process Control — Write Single Register on 40021, twice inside thirty seconds. Impair Process Control acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.
  • Z-CONTROL Impact — Fill weight follows the written setpoint and product leaves specification. Impact acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.

A machine is bridging the office network and the plant network

  • Z-ENTERPRISE Initial Access — One host holds a corporate session and a plant session in the same minute. Initial Access is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.
  • Z-ENTERPRISE Discovery — Read Device Identification against PLC-201 — discovery, not control. Discovery is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.

A safety interlock is being held in an overridden state

  • Z-SAFETY Execution — SIS-301 reports its key switch in PROGRAM rather than RUN. Execution acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.
  • Z-SAFETY Inhibit Response Function — A force on interlock IL-7 is kept alive every half hour and the trip is suppressed. Inhibit Response Function acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.
  • Z-SAFETY Impact — Vessel pressure climbs past the trip point and nothing trips. Impact acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.

Controller firmware is being written while the line is running

  • Z-CONTROL Execution — PLC-204 changes mode from RUN to PROGRAM during production. Execution acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.
  • Z-OPS Lateral Movement — A block transfer runs from the jump host, not the licensed workstation. Lateral Movement is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.
  • Z-CONTROL Persistence — 218 blocks in flight while the HMI loses the capper entirely. Persistence acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.

A second master is issuing commands on the control network

  • Z-CONTROL Initial Access — An address with no entry in the asset register speaks control protocol. Initial Access is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.
  • Z-CONTROL Impair Process Control — Coil writes that are perfectly well-formed and completely unauthorized. Impair Process Control acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.
  • Z-CONTROL Impact — The line responds to whichever master wrote last. Impact acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.

Batch records are leaving the plant overnight

  • Z-DMZ Collection — Bulk reads against the historian's own archive, out of hours. Collection is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.
  • Z-DMZ Discovery — The historian's own interface is in promiscuous mode with no capture job to explain it. Discovery is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.
  • Z-OPS Impact — Volume and destination the historian has never used before. Impact acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.

Somebody is driving the operator's panel from elsewhere

  • Z-DMZ Initial Access — A contractor account signs in to the jump host from outside, out of hours. Initial Access is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.
  • Z-DMZ Lateral Movement — A second interactive session on the panel while the operator is signed in. Lateral Movement is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.
  • Z-CONTROL Impact — Conveyor coil written off and back on from the panel nobody touched. Impact acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.

Legacy pumps are being answered by something that is not the gateway

  • Z-CONTROL Collection — A duplicate address claim on the field VLAN, then answers from the wrong host. Collection is movement toward the process, so it is recorded against the outermost zone this scenario touches.
  • Z-CONTROL Impair Process Control — Pump 3 reports 48 psi on the screen and 22 psi at the instrument. Impair Process Control acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.
  • Z-CONTROL Impact — The historian trend stays inside band while the pump has actually stopped. Impact acts on the process itself, so it is recorded against the innermost zone this scenario reaches.

Zone identifiers and requirements are the standard's; the placement of each detection is ours. Simulation only.