Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

When UNECE WP.29 came into force, it transformed the global automotive industry. For the first time, cybersecurity became a mandatory requirement for modern vehicles — not a marketing feature, not a technical add-on, but a regulated obligation. WP.29 forced manufacturers to rethink how vehicles were designed, updated and secured, requiring formal Cybersecurity Management Systems (CSMS) and Software Update Management Systems (SUMS) across the entire vehicle lifecycle.

The automotive industry is undergoing a profound transformation. With vehicles now functioning as software-defined, connected platforms, manufacturers face unprecedented security challenges. From over-the-air (OTA) updates and telematics to ADAS, battery systems and mobility services, every vehicle today relies on digital identities and cryptographic trust. Historically, OEMs have relied heavily on Tier 1 suppliers to manage keys, certificates and firmware signing processes.

Automotive programs are moving faster than many engineering teams planned for. Regulatory pressure — from UN R155/R156 (WP.29) and ISO/SAE 21434 to the forthcoming EU Cyber Resilience Act — is reshaping expectations for how identity, signing, and software integrity are managed across the entire ECU and OTA lifecycle. At the same time, SERMI is redefining workshop and diagnostic access, introducing strong authentication into processes that were previously loosely governed.

In today’s digital economy, every organization—whether a law firm, retailer, or financial services provider—is now part of someone’s critical infrastructure. A dangerous misconception persists: that Internet of Things (IoT) devices and Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are only concerns for industrial or manufacturing sectors. In reality, these technologies are quietly embedded in everyday operations across nearly every industry.

CrowdStrike Falcon for XIoT is gaining new innovations to protect operational technology (OT) and XIoT environments as they grow larger and more interconnected. The rapid expansion of industrial systems has led to blind spots across segmented networks, unmanaged devices, and legacy infrastructure. Most OT security tools, siloed by design, fail to see which assets are connected or how they communicate.

In a world where billions of devices now shape our connected reality, IoT security has evolved from an IT problem to a board-level priority. As the iot ecosystem grows—an interconnected network of devices, systems, and infrastructures—comprehensive iot security solutions have become essential to protect, manage, and scale these environments. Yet despite the growing awareness, one challenge remains stubbornly persistent — the management and protection of unmanaged devices.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to expand across industries, risk management has become one of the most pressing challenges for security and compliance leaders. The convergence of AI and IoT (ai iot) is accelerating this transformation, introducing new opportunities but also creating a more complex risk landscape that requires advanced approaches to risk management.

In 2025, machine identities outnumber human identities by a factor of 40 to 1. Every connected sensor, gateway, vehicle, and robot depends on a digital credential to prove its authenticity and secure its data. These digital credentials serve as unique identifiers for devices, enabling secure communications and access control.

In a world where internet connectivity intersects with just about every facet of our physical world—from cameras and door locks to power grids and factory robots—cyber risk intelligence has moved well beyond just protecting the bits and bytes of logical IT ecosystems. Security and risk professionals also have to be on the lookout for and aware of improperly secured cyber physical devices, like IoT devices, which greatly expand the enterprise attack surface.