Simatic S7-300 password

I'm tasked to insert a solenoid valve in a process which is controlled by a Simatic S7-300 CPU 315-2 using Siemens WinCC V6.0 as the monitoring system. However, I found out that the the program is protected by a password which was only known by the former technician which have already left their company. Is there any way that I can access the program without or debug the password so that it can be changed to a new one?

If you search this forum for this kind of questions, you'll find we're very hesitant to answer. There is always a legal part in this kind of requests and for us it is completely impossible to determine whether this question is legitimate or not. For me there is no way I can answer, because if I do and somebody finds out this is not legitimate I will be incriminated too. This is the law here in Belgium, as it is in many Western countries (if not all).

There are some legal ways to deal with this kind of problems:

• contact the former employee and ask for the source. If the company has a policy in this, it might be he is liable for the damages done to the company due to the fact he didn't leave the sources behind;
• if you have the program listing, rewrite the program from the listing and make your changes;
• to make sure it never happens again: state clearly in each and every purchase request the manufacturers have to provide the source files (and listings on paper as well).

I'm sure others here might add some points as well.

Kind regards and good luck,

Hi Jean,

Thank you for your fast response on my inquiry. I will do as you advise, I will ask the management to locate the former technician. I hope they can still trace his whereabouts.

Again, thanks a lot!

Carl

Carl,

don't thank me, it is nice you do but it isn't necessary. Maybe you can thank Phil to give us all the opportunity to help each other, he deserves it more than I do.

Good luck,