scada Is there a way to detect or generate an alarm if a SCADA license key (USB dongle) is removed?

[Healthy_]

Hi everyone,

In one of our previous projects, an operator who was on notice period removed the SCADA (COPA DATA Zenon) license key (USB dongle) and left the site. There was no CCTV coverage, so it’s unclear who was responsible — this is what the client’s staff reported.

For future projects, I want to implement a feature that can generate an alarm or popup on PLC, SCADA, or HMI if the license dongle is removed while the system is running.

Has anyone implemented something like this before, or do any SCADA systems offer such functionality natively? Any suggestions, examples, or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Goghie]

I'm not user of Zenon, but I think it used HASP/CodeMeter. If that is true, you can write PowerShell script that is listing the presence of dongles. With some optimization and python scripting, you can do lot of things after.... But it is much cheaper to give good wage and respect to workers 😉