Moving to AVEVA™ APC 2022 SP1: What you need to know about Microsoft’s DCOM security update

Written by Joseph McMullen, Senior Marketing Manager, Value Chain Optimization – AVEVA

Advanced Process Control (APC) has become an essential technology for companies around the world, but recent security risks have prompted Microsoft to release a critical security update for its Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM). This change has the potential to impact AVEVA APC applications that connect to remote OPC DA Servers. To ensure our clients maintain seamless connectivity, we’ve released AVEVA APC 2022 SP1. Here’s what you need to know about Microsoft’s DCOM changes and how you can update your AVEVA APC solution.

Understanding Microsoft’s DCOM Update

AVEVA APC software is built on Microsoft DCOM technology, which is a protocol that allows applications to communicate with each other over a network. This technology has been widely used in various industries, including manufacturing, finance, and healthcare, to enable seamless communication between different software applications.

Microsoft is making important updates to DCOM to address critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could potentially allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to the system, steal sensitive data, or cause system crashes.

The impact of Microsoft’s DCOM update on your organization depends on your system, network configuration, and other factors. The update can cause service interruptions because it can affect communication between the AVEVA APC software and APC applications connecting to Remote OPC DA Servers. Or, you may open your organization up to security breaches.
Now more than ever, it is critical for AVEVA APC software users to ensure their systems are updated and secure. If you apply the Microsoft update to either the remote OPC DA Server machine or the AVEVA APC machine connecting to the remote OPC DA Server, you will need to migrate your existing APC applications. Failure to update your system can have dire consequences, such as data breaches, system downtime, or financial losses.

Updating your system to AVEVA APC 2022 SP1

Our newest update, AVEVA APC 2022 SP1, comes with several key features and enhancements that ensure you can continue to use AVEVA APC without any disruptions. We’ve added OPC UA client capabilities, a secure and reliable communication protocol, designed to work with local or remote OPC UA servers.

Below are two scenarios to help you update AVEVA APC without any disruptions:

• Scenario 1: Moving your OPC DA Server to the same machine as AVEVA APC Online.

This scenario requires you to install the OPC DA server on the same machine as AVEVA APC Online. The APC application will require you to migrate to new OPC tags. This can be done by AVEVA’s APC consultancy group or our certified systems integrators.

• Scenario 2: Migrating your communications protocol to OPC UA.

In this scenario, you can install OPC UA server on a local or remote machine. The APC application will require migration to new OPC tags, which can be done by AVEVA’s APC consultancy group or our certified systems integrators.

At AVEVA, we’re here to give you access to the best APC technology available to increase operational efficiency and stability. Our latest upgrade, AVEVA APC 2022 SP1, allows you to continue to enjoy a secure, reliable solution in conjunction with Microsoft’s DCOM security update.