CISA and US and International Partners Publish Guidance on Priority Considerations in Product Selection for OT Owners and Operators

Published: January 13, 2025

This Alert Is From CISA

CISA works with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborate to build a more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future. CISA is the operational lead for federal cybersecurity and the national coordinator for critical infrastructure security and resilience. We are designed for collaboration and partnership. Learn about our layered mission to reduce risk to the nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure.

Today, CISA—along with U.S. and international partners—released joint guidance Secure by Demand: Priority Considerations for Operational Technology Owners and Operators when Selecting Digital Products. As part of CISA’s Secure by Demand series, this guidance focuses on helping customers identify manufacturers dedicated to continuous improvement and achieving a better cost balance, as well as how Operational Technology (OT) owners and operators should integrate secure by design elements into their procurement process.

Critical infrastructure and industrial control systems are prime targets for cyberattacks. The authoring agencies warn that threat actors, when compromising OT components, target specific OT products rather than specific organizations. Many OT products are not designed and developed with Secure by Design principles and often have easily exploited weaknesses. When procuring products, OT owners and operators should select products from manufacturers who prioritize security elements identified in this guidance.

For more information on questions to consider during procurement discussions, see CISA’s Secure by Demand Guide: How Software Customers Can Drive a Secure Technology Ecosystem. To learn more about secure by design principles and practices, visit Secure by Design.

 

This alert has come from: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2025/01/13/cisa-and-us-and-international-partners-publish-guidance-priority-considerations-product-selection-ot