Security Seal: Siemens Protects Simatic Controllers with Security Solution by Schreiner ProTech

Siemens relies on security seals by Schreiner ProTech to protect its Simatic assemblies. The custom-developed security seals for authentication combine a visual, a digital and other security features and are applied to the component housings. The solution is based on the BitSecure copy protection pattern that is easy to check using a reader. A hologram with a void effect complements this specialty solution.

Siemens Simatic controllers are widely used in mechanical and plant engineering, manufacturing and process engineering. But the market has increasingly been seeing the emergence of counterfeits. To protect its customers from suffering losses as a result of the pirated products, Siemens was faced with the challenge of preventing the spreading of inferior copies. “Visually, the fakes are usually so good that they can hardly be identified without using tools. The seals were to remedy this issue,” says Michael Drollmann, Senior Sales Director at Schreiner ProTech, describing the situation that prompted the project.
The project required a solution that would allow the coordinated security mechanisms to interact at various tiers in order to reliably identify tampering and counterfeiting attempts, as well as deter counterfeiters. In addition, the seal had to use only minimal space.

Specialty Solution Based on “BitSecure” Copy Protection Pattern
Siemens commissioned Schreiner ProTech to develop a specialty solution for protecting its Simatic controllers. The resulting solution combines visual features that give rise to initial suspicion with complex security technologies which subsequently enable an extremely reliable analysis using readers. It is based on Schreiner ProSecure’s BitSecure security solution. “The copy protection pattern uses a high-resolution, cloud-like print image featuring delicate details that are not discernible by the naked eye. If a counterfeiter attempts to imitate it, the image suffers a loss in precision and optical details, and can thus be revealed as a fake by means of an appropriate reader,” explains André Siebeneicher from the Competence Center Schreiner ProSecure.

Additional Technologies Support Reader-Assisted Authentication
Reliable authentication is additionally supported by other security features on the housings of the Simatic products. A customized hologram with void effects exposes an irreversible message when the seal is peeled off for the first time. “Schreiner ProTech has achieved a solution that fully satisfies our requirements in terms of security, verification and processing within the defined economic boundary conditions. Likewise, the solution has been integrated into our fully automated manufacturing process without influencing the cycle rates,” say the project managers at Siemens in summing up the results.