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Regulation to Revenue: Turning CRA Into a Business Win

May 17th, 2025 No comments

While preparing our new Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) training classes and working with customers tackling CRA requirements, we’ve often encountered a sense of reluctance. The regulation is new, and the workload can seem daunting. But we’ve also seen how those who engage early start to discover real advantages. That’s why we want to share not just the obligations, but also the positive side of CRA compliance.

The CRA is reshaping how digital products are developed and integrated in the European market. Forward-looking component vendors are turning CRA readiness into a commercial advantage. For suppliers of embedded systems, firmware modules, or sub-systems used in larger machines, early alignment offers a real competitive edge.

Turning Compliance into a Market Differentiator

The CRA applies to “products with digital elements, so all components with software or connectivity. OEMs and system integrators, responsible for CRA conformity of their products, will seek suppliers who make compliance easier.I

If you offer CRA-ready components with complete documentation, like technical files, SBOMs, support periods, vulnerability processes or voluntarily the entire risk assessment, then you reduce risk and speed up certification for your customer. That makes you a preferred supplier.

This is especially important for embedded vendors: CAN-based modules, industrial sensors, smart controllers, security gateways, they are all in scope. If your documentation is ready, you’re ahead of the competition.

The Shift Has Already Begun

Full CRA enforcement begins in December 2027, but purchasing departments will already soon start auditing suppliers about planned compliance. Early adopters have a window to build long-term relationships based on trust and readiness.

Customers will soon ask:

  • Do you have a CRA technical file?
  • Can you provide an SBOM?
  • How and for how long will you provide updates?
  • What’s your vulnerability disclosure process?

If you can answer swiftly and confidently, your product becomes more than compliant, it becomes attractive.

Defense in Depth Starts at the Component Level

CRA embeds specific cybersecurity principles, especially defense in depth: limiting attack surfaces, managing access, validating inputs, secure updates, and ongoing vulnerability management.

Even minor components can be attack vectors. An unmaintained module or undocumented interface can compromise a full system. Your customers want components that help them build secure systems. Your documentation must show that you’re part of the solution.

Short-Term Effort, Long-Term Advantage

Yes, CRA adds some effort:

  • Documenting processes
  • Clarifying support periods
  • Generating SBOMs
  • Setting up secure update mechanisms

But these are reusable across product lines. And they become selling points:
“We provide a pre-filled CRA technical file, saving you time and audit effort.”
Soon, CRA alignment will be part of RFQs, especially in regulated industries. Early movers will already have what’s needed.

How to Start Now

You don’t need a full conformity assessment yet. Start with these:

  1. Draft the basic technical documentation: risk analysis, update policy, SBOM, and contact point.
  2. Educate your team: make sure product and sales staff can explain how you support CRA obligations.
  3. Label your products: terms like “CRA-ready” or “CRA-aligned” will gain traction fast.

Conclusion: Be the Easy Choice

CRA isn’t just a legal requirement, it’s a new trust signal. Vendors who invest in documentation and defense in depth today won’t just be compliant, they’ll be strategic partners.

Integrators will ask: does your component help us get CRA-certified?

If the answer is yes, you’re the easy choice.

If you want to stay updated on our upcoming CRA training classes, follow us on LinkedIn or check this blog regularly. We’ll share practical tips, updates, and announce training availability as we go live.

Categories: Embedded Software Design, Security Tags: , , , ,

Tackling Security Challenges for 2025 and Beyond

January 3rd, 2025 Comments off

As we step into 2025, the team at EmSA (Embedded Systems Academy) extends our warmest wishes for a prosperous and successful New Year to all our customers and partners!

We have been working on cybersecurity options for embedded small-packet networks for years, but adoption has been slow. Most of our customers know that they need to invest in “some security” eventually. However, without real customer demand or immediate regulatory pressure, the implementation of cybersecurity measures has lagged.

Well, in 2025 and the following years, regulatory pressure will become increasingly urgent. Once you examine the detailed consequences of NIS-2, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (products sold in the EU must comply by end of 2027), and standards like IEC 62443, it becomes clear that this is not just a hill of security measures to climb — for several industries, it will be a mountain.

There are 47 security requirements listed in IEC 62443-4-1, which all need to be addressed and documented, if compliance to IEC 62443 is required. The Cyber Resilience Act is less detailed, but still has some 20+ requirements to address. Each requirement needs to be taken “care of” and it needs to be documented what has been done to take care of it.

In 2025, we at EmSA plan to publish several white papers to help you “get a grip” on the security aspects of your embedded applications using embedded networks. There will also be a number of non-cryptographic measures applicable to CAN and CANopen networks to help achieve at least one of the lower security levels.

For those who need to go “all the way,” we will offer cryptographic solutions for CAN FD, CANopen FD, RS232 connections, and other embedded small-packet networks.

Follow us on this blog, our LinkedIn page, and our YouTube channel to stay up to date with security measures for small-packet networks.

Categories: CAN, CANopen, Embedded Software Design, Security Tags: , , , ,