A complete plant asset management of the industrial control system is the basis for an effective risk analysis, cybersecurity and operational management. Various industry standards such as IEC 62443 and ISO 27000 recommend complete documentation of all assets, their properties and connections.

Whether critical infrastructure, production companies or process industries: Plant asset management of industrial equipment is usually incomplete and difficult. Often there is no general overview of the individual components, especially in complex plants or embedded systems. In addition, new devices that intervene with the control systems are continuously introduced. In most cases, the properties of the components cannot be documented on a daily basis either in order to ensure meaningful plant asset management. Manufacturers use proprietary settings and protocols or hide information as a business secret.

These blind spots in the ICS jeopardize both industrial security and availability-oriented operation.