Counterfeit industrial SCADA configuration software seized by the police – let’s take a look at what software is involve

Industrial automation configuration software widely used in China's automation control field includes Wonderware's InTouch, Siemens' Wincc, GE's iFix, and Citet's configuration software.

Weng and Zhang, known as an "elite couple" to outsiders, exploited their computer knowledge to produce and sell counterfeit industrial control software of internationally renowned brands at low prices, making over 800,000 yuan in profits over six years.

Under the guidance, coordination, and unified command of the Economic Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, police in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and Shanghai recently launched simultaneous raids. Fuzhou police seized 3,643 sets of counterfeit industrial control software, 552 new and old encryption dongles, and 1,020 labels, with the total involved amount reaching 280 million yuan.

Investigation revealed that criminal suspects Weng Mouxing, Zhang Moufang, and others, all aged 30, are postgraduates of a prestigious university in Beijing, majoring in software engineering. Leveraging their experience in industrial control work, they cracked industrial control software of multiple internationally renowned brands. They purchased optical discs, encryption dongles, data connectors, and other accessories from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and other places, mass-produced counterfeit industrial control software of famous international brands, and entrusted a printing company in Fuzhou to produce the outer packaging.

After being copied and forged by Weng and Zhang, a set of genuine industrial control software priced at over 110,000 yuan on the market was sold for only 1,000 to 2,000 yuan. Since 2007, Weng and Zhang have sold counterfeit registered trademark industrial control software to hundreds of manufacturers in Beijing, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangdong, and other regions through online stores, earning over 800,000 yuan in profits.

The couple's reckless money-making attracted the attention of police in multiple regions. Due to the case's significant complexity, high involved amount, and involvement across multiple provinces and cities nationwide, the Economic Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security designated it as the "2·18 Case of Infringing Copyrights and Counterfeiting Registered Trademarks of Industrial Control Software."

According to the police, this is a typical case of high-IQ crime. The criminal suspects did not need to build factories or make huge investments; they could easily create "wealth" from home with just a computer and relevant accessories.

In the dead of night in Shanghai, most people who had been busy all day were asleep. Detective Sun could not contain his excitement and lay awake for a long time. Sitting by his computer, he continuously collected and analyzed information about industrial control software sales on websites. As a graduate of a relevant major, he keenly realized that behind the calm internet lay astonishing criminal activities.

This was an unforgettable night two months ago for Detective Sun Qianren of the Economic Investigation Detachment of Jiading Branch, Shanghai Public Security Bureau. After that night, he sifted through the complicated information and dug deeper layer by layer, gradually uncovering a criminal network covering all links of pirated industrial control software production, supply, and sales.

From March 27 to 28, under the unified command of the Ministry of Public Security, public security organs in 7 provinces and cities nationwide launched a cluster campaign, successfully cracking the first cross-provincial and municipal case of pirated industrial control software infringement in China. More than 7,000 sets of pirated engineering control software of internationally renowned brands were seized, with the total involved amount exceeding 500 million yuan.

In early February this year, a report from a world-renowned multinational enterprise attracted great attention from Shanghai police.

The company stated that it had recently received frequent customer complaints, reflecting that the company's engineering control software they used could not effectively monitor, acquire, and store data, and the software itself had problems with stability and security. Further verification by the company found that the software involved in the complaints was pirated software without the company's authorization.

Given that such engineering control software is mainly used for operational monitoring of infrastructure, the instability and insecurity of pirated software pose serious hidden dangers to public safety. Shanghai police quickly set up a special task force to carry out work.

Where exactly did the pirated engineering software on the market come from? This crime that seriously endangers public safety has been weighing on the minds of the task force police officers.

Through investigation, the task force found that such pirated software was mainly traded on websites. The price of genuine software ranges from 50,000 to 110,000 yuan per set, while the price of pirated software is less than 4% of the genuine version. To seek illegal profits, there are as many as 11 online sellers of pirated software, spread across 7 provinces and cities including Beijing, Fujian, and Jiangsu.

"Due to the virtual nature of the internet, the true identities and criminal dens of the suspects could not be determined, which once brought our investigation to a standstill," said Detective Sun Qianren of the Economic Investigation Detachment of Jiading Branch, Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

No matter how cunning a fox is, it cannot escape a clever hunter. On the one hand, the task force worked with enterprises to conduct technical analysis of the pirated engineering software starting from the software itself to find flaws; on the other hand, they started from online stores to search for suspicious clues. After the police dug deeper layer by layer and compared information in detail, a criminal industry chain with network members scattered across different regions and intertwined with each other gradually became clear.

From March 27 to 28, under the unified command of the Ministry of Public Security, public security organs in 7 provinces and cities including Beijing, Fujian, and Jiangsu launched a cluster campaign, successfully cracking the first cross-provincial and municipal case of pirated industrial control software infringement in China. They destroyed 10 dens producing and selling pirated industrial control software in one fell swoop, arrested 16 criminal suspects including Weng and Gu, and seized more than 7,000 sets of pirated engineering control software of internationally renowned brands, with the total involved amount exceeding 500 million yuan.

This is a typical high-IQ criminal activity. Major suspects such as Weng and Gu used their professional knowledge to crack engineering control software of internationally renowned companies. They purchased optical discs, encryption dongles, and other accessories from Guangdong and other places, entrusted illegal printing enterprises to produce packaging identical to genuine products in appearance, thus mass-producing and selling pirated software. They then collaborated with dealers in the gang to sell the pirated software as genuine products at low prices on the market to seek illegal profits.

"The criminal network in this case has involved links such as the production, supply, and sales of pirated engineering software. The criminals are young and professional, with hidden criminal methods, mainly selling on Taobao. The potential harm is huge, and a fixed industry chain has gradually formed," said Xu Qin, Deputy Captain of the Fourth Detachment of the Economic Investigation Corps of Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

Reporters learned that the main suspect Weng graduated from a prestigious university in Beijing, has a professional background in automation control, and once worked as a technical staff in an automation research institute in Beijing.

However, Weng, who was regarded as a technical elite by others, did not use his professional knowledge for technological innovation but took advantage of his position to take genuine engineering control software home to crack it. In 2009, after cracking the software, Weng registered an online store named "DuojinBao" with fake information to sell pirated software.

In the No. 1 Detention Center in Fuzhou, Weng, who spent three years cracking engineering control software, no longer had the complacency he once had.

The price of genuine engineering control software ranges from 50,000 to 110,000 yuan per set. However, reporters saw on the webpage of an online store that a hardcover full set of engineering control software was sold for only 2,100 yuan, with the words "Consumer Protection Agreement Signed" in the upper right corner of the webpage. With such a huge price gap, most buyers are technical personnel—could they not understand the market situation? Weng's answer shocked reporters.

Pirated software can implement some basic functions of genuine software, but not advanced functions. For example, it cannot send SMS alerts when a project malfunctions, nor can it realize web publishing and alarm functions. "Most software buyers want to save investment costs. The software requires long-term debugging after installation, and they value the technical support I provide more," Weng said.

Although after the case occurred, relevant enterprises conducted self-inspections and removed the pirated software according to the case information notified by public security organs, the hidden dangers it posed to public safety still made reporters break out in a cold sweat.

According to the world-renowned multinational enterprise, such engineering control software mainly monitors operating equipment on the production site and alarms for dangerous situations, including data collection, equipment control, signal alarm, and analysis and statistics functions. It is widely used in infrastructure and various manufacturing enterprises.

However, it is difficult to ensure that pirated engineering control software is copied to carrier discs and used in actual operations in a "virus-free" safe environment. Once viruses carried by pirated software invade the computer monitoring system, the pirated software may cause the entire or partial system to crash in a very short time, making it impossible to effectively monitor, acquire, and store data. The monitoring system can hardly achieve the monitoring, alarm, and other functions of genuine software.

During the investigation of the case, the Shanghai police task force found that a steel plant had purchased pirated software. Fortunately, the pirated engineering control software was still in the debugging stage and had not been officially put into use.

"Using pirated software on steel furnaces is extremely dangerous. The responsiveness and stability of pirated software are far worse than genuine software. Excessively high or low steel furnace temperatures may cause serious consequences, posing a serious hidden danger to public safety," said Xu Qin, Deputy Captain of the Fourth Detachment of the Economic Investigation Corps of Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

Pirated engineering control software may render monitoring equipment ineffective and fail to provide alarms, bringing great safety hazards to the operation of infrastructure and possibly causing inestimable consequences to social public safety.

Cai, who has been criminal detained by Shanghai police, was once an employee of a private enterprise engaged in engineering projects in Shanghai. In the second half of 2012, he purchased such pirated engineering control software from the internet at a low price of 2,400 yuan and quoted it as genuine software in his unit. According to Detective Sun Qianren of the task force, since such pirated engineering control software is professional software for major engineering projects, it is mostly privately purchased by technical personnel without the enterprise's knowledge.

If major accidents are caused by the production and sale of pirated engineering control software, should the offenders be punished for the crime of infringing intellectual property rights or the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means?

"According to the principle that the more serious crime absorbs the less serious one, they should be punished for the crime of endangering public safety. However, in terms of civil liability, they still need to bear compensation liability for infringing intellectual property rights," said Yang Ming, an associate professor engaged in intellectual property research at Peking University Law School.

At the same time, Xu Qin, Deputy Captain of the Fourth Detachment of the Economic Investigation Corps of Shanghai Public Security Bureau, reminded units undertaking major engineering projects to deeply recognize the serious harm of pirated engineering control software, strengthen self-discipline, improve unit rules and regulations, standardize software procurement channels, and prevent pirated engineering control software from entering major engineering projects openly. Public security organs will further increase the crackdown on such crimes, strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, and safeguard the public safety of people's production and life.