Compliance

CRA - Cyber Resilience Act

The EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) defines binding security standards for digital products such as software and cloud services to improve their protection against cyber attacks. All companies that develop and offer digital products in the EU market must fully comply with the new requirements by 11 December 2027 at the latest. Reporting obligations will already apply from September 11, 2026.

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Strategic Implementation of CRA-Measures

Comprehensive CRA implementation requires targeted strategic measures:

Security concept: Creation of a risk assessment and introduction of safety-oriented product development.
Incident management: Establish clear processes for the rapid reporting and handling of security incidents.
Update management: Automated, user-friendly updates with secure standards must be introduced.
‍SBOM documentation: Ongoing maintenance of a software bill of materials (SBOM) with all components used.
Governance and responsibilities: Establish clear cybersecurity roles and responsibilities at the management level.

Processes and Tools

The adaptation of internal processes and tool chains is the core of successful implementation:

Risk assessment: Use suitable tools (e.g. OWASP-SAMM, SAFECode, SSDF, etc.) to systematically identify risks.
Security testing: Use of SAST (Static Application Security Testing) and DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) for continuous security testing.
Patch management: Establish automatic patch distribution with tools.
SBOM Management: Use automated tools to create SBOM
Incident Reporting: Integration of security information and event management (SIEM) systems for rapid incident reporting.

Challenges and Critical Success Factors

A clear awareness of the challenges ensures CRA compliance:

Resource planning: Provide sufficient budget and skilled workers for implementation.
Complexity of implementation: Translating CRA requirements into understandable, actionable measures.
Adaptation of (legacy) systems: Evaluate systems at an early stage and plan adjustments.
Compliance check: Establish ongoing monitoring of compliance with legal requirements.
Employee awareness: Conduct regular training and awareness raising among employees.

Best Practices for successfull implementation of the CRA

A successful implementation of CRA requirements requires a systematic and forward-looking approach that ensures compliance with the guidelines while maintaining productivity:

Security by Design Integration

Integrate secure development practices from the outset to proactively prevent security risks. Training of developers in software quality and security principles, use of secure coding guidelines, appropriate process and tool structures.

Automation of security processes

Automation of tests, updates and documentation significantly reduces effort and error rates. Leverage CI/CD pipelines with built-in testing and security checks.

Communication strategy

Ensure transparent communication within the company, with customers and authorities about security measures and incidents. Clearly define responsibilities and reporting.

Early planning

Create detailed implementation plans with milestones early on to implement CRA implementation efficiently and on time. Responsibilities should be clearly defined and resources should be planned accordingly.

Regular audits and reviews

Ensure continuous review and adaptation of development processes in order to remain CRA compliant in the long term. Conduct quarterly internal audits and reviews of security measures. Conduct annual independent external audits.

Conclusion

A systematic implementation of the Cyber Resilience Act is a key success factor for ensuring sustainable cyber security of digital products.

Strategic and procedural integration, combined with clear governance, efficient tooling, and regular reviews results in enhanced security, compliance, and long-term market success.

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