An industrial control device for use in an industrial control system providing coordinated control of multiple industrial control devices (16a, 16b, 16c) according to a control program, the industrial control device comprising: a network port configured to communicate with other elements of the industrial control system; electrical connectors configured to accept electrical conductors communicating with industrial equipment to receive or transmit electrical signals from or to that industrial equipment for the control of an industrial process; at least one processor configured to communicate with the network port and electrical connectors; and an electronic memory system accessible by the processor and holding: operating software describing operation of the control device and executable by the processor, configuration data defining a configuration of the control device, and environmental data describing an operating environment of the control device, wherein the operating software, configuration data, and environmental data together define a control device state; wherein the operating software is executable by the processor to: read at least a portion of the control device state to generate a state thumbprint of the control device state using a lossy compression system, wherein the state thumbprint provides a compressed representation of at least one of the operating software, the configuration data, and the environmental data; encrypt the state thumbprint; and transmit the encrypted state thumbprint over the network port to the industrial control system. a network port configured to communicate with other elements of the industrial control system; electrical connectors configured to accept electrical conductors communicating with industrial equipment to receive or transmit electrical signals from or to that industrial equipment for the control of an industrial process; at least one processor configured to communicate with the network port and electrical connectors; and an electronic memory system accessible by the processor and holding: operating software describing operation of the control device and executable by the processor, configuration data defining a configuration of the control device, and environmental data describing an operating environment of the control device, operating software describing operation of the control device and executable by the processor, configuration data defining a configuration of the control device, and environmental data describing an operating environment of the control device, wherein the operating software, configuration data, and environmental data together define a control device state; wherein the operating software is executable by the processor to: read at least a portion of the control device state to generate a state thumbprint of the control device state using a lossy compression system, wherein the state thumbprint provides a compressed representation of at least one of the operating software, the configuration data, and the environmental data; encrypt the state thumbprint; and transmit the encrypted state thumbprint over the network port to the industrial control system. read at least a portion of the control device state to generate a state thumbprint of the control device state using a lossy compression system, wherein the state thumbprint provides a compressed representation of at least one of the operating software, the configuration data, and the environmental data; encrypt the state thumbprint; and transmit the encrypted state thumbprint over the network port to the industrial control system.