🚀 Security Revolution in Industrial Image Processing from MVTec: MERLIC 26.10 is Coming! 🛡️

[Hasan S. Cemkan]

MVTec Software has announced MERLIC 26.10, a vision software framework that will bring a breath of fresh air to the world of industrial automation. Scheduled for release on October 15, 2026, this update makes security a default while elevating tool modularity to its peak in production lines, automated inspection cells, and system integration projects.

🔒 Secure Communication and New Standards in Cybersecurity​

MERLIC 26.10 offers a strong shield against industrial cybersecurity threats. Remote interfaces are now disabled by default, and TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption protocols are mandated for external communications with Administrator approval. This minimizes security vulnerabilities in production environments.

• WebSockets Integration: Remote interfaces are transitioning to WebSockets, which allows multiple system processes and separate instances to be multiplexed over the same TCP port. This standardizes target identification while reducing firewall exposures.
  
• Unix-Domain Sockets (UDS): Local inter-process communications occur over Unix-domain sockets, which avoid network stack latency and port exhaustion. Access control is provided by local operating system file permissions.
  

🔍 Component Validation and Vulnerability Management​

Integration into enterprise security workflows is supported by machine-readable Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) in the standardized SPDX format. These lists reveal dependency trees, sources, revisions, and license parameters. Security teams can analyze this data against Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) registries to verify patch status and automate industrial compliance audits.

⚙️ Multi-Task Management and User Interface Improvements​

Production hardware performing parallel image inspections gains better visibility through the redesigned configuration interface in the Frontend and RTE Setup tools. Administrators can identify targeted software instances on host platforms, view active availability indicators, and assess real-time security parameters before connecting.

• Improved Development Workflows: Development workflows within the application builder include the ability to create isolated tabs for grouped tool sets. This allows parameters and outputs to be linked to front-end visualization widgets without disrupting the group architecture.
  
• Virtual Recipes: Recipe management allows direct import of image configurations as virtual recipes, reducing deployment costs.
  
• Parameter Inspection Layers: Parameter inspection layers for regions of interest (ROI) present dimensions, Cartesian coordinates, angles, and radial measurements directly upon selection.
  

💡 Industrial IoT and Secure Development Lifecycle​

MERLIC 26.10 directly competes with rivals such as Cognex In-Sight Explorer and Zebra Aurora Design Assistant. While traditional platforms often rely on industrial fieldbus bridges (like PROFINET or EtherNet/IP) based on proprietary application protocols or external network segmentation, MERLIC's shift to secure WebSockets with TLS brings image execution closer to modern Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) microservice models. Furthermore, providing SPDX-compliant SBOM files ensures measurable compliance with IEC 62443-4-1 requirements for secure development lifecycle tracking. This is an emerging standard where older machine vision platforms often lack transparency regarding third-party libraries and runtime dependencies.