PLC Password Cracking

In the industry; we often witness that the machine manufacturers (especially in the Far East) frequently use a counter in the PLC program and the machine locks up and stops working after a certain period of time. Manufacturers do this to guarantee payment to themselves as well as to receive a service fee, and now the majority of companies do it. With the password placed on the PLC, getting service from somewhere else in these situations is prevented. But now these passwords can be broken for very small amounts and it is possible to make great savings in terms of both time and money.