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With the digitization and interconnection of Industry Automation & Control Systems (IACS) and operational technology (OT), traditionally closed industrial environments are increasingly exposed to cyberattacks. The 2010 Stuxnet virus attack on Iran's nuclear facilities revealed the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and forced the world to re-examine industrial cybersecurity. However, traditional IT security standards such as ISO 27001 are difficult to meet the unique requirements of OT scenarios (e.g., real-time, long device lifecycle, physical security coupling, etc.). To this end, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) collaborated with industry experts to develop the IEC 62443 standard, which aims to provide a customized safety framework for industrial automation and control systems (IACS) to fill industry gaps, and released the first version in 2009, and continued to iterate to adapt to emerging threats.

The IEC 62443 standard unifies industrial cybersecurity terminology and methodologies, promoting the establishment of implementable security systems in industries such as energy, manufacturing, and transportation, such as quantifying protection goals through "security level (SL)" and guiding enterprises to invest on demand. At the same time, equipment suppliers (such as PLC manufacturers) and system integrators are required to follow the security development process (IEC 62443-4-1) to reduce vulnerabilities at the source and improve the security of the entire life cycle of industrial products. It complements NIST SP 800-82, ISO 27001 and other standards to form a cross-domain solution. IEC 62443 has become a common requirement for bidding for industrial projects around the world (e.g., European energy facilities), and third-party certifications (e.g., TÜV) have accelerated the selection of trusted products and services in the market. Enterprises that obtain IEC 62443 certification will be able to strengthen their security protection capabilities, gain compliance and market access advantages, and improve their business competitiveness.

The birth of IEC 62443 marks the shift from "passive response" to "active protection" in industrial network security, building a dynamic defense barrier for global critical infrastructure through standardized methodologies and technical requirements, becoming an indispensable security cornerstone in the Industry 4.0 era.

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What is IEC 62443?

IEC 62443 is a set of standards developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for the cybersecurity of industrial automation and control systems (IACS). The standard guides organizations in taking protective measures against cyber threats to industrial systems by establishing a comprehensive framework. It focuses on key aspects such as risk assessment, system design, and security development, aiming to reduce security vulnerabilities in industrial environments. IEC 62443 imposes stringent requirements on the cybersecurity of industrial automation and control systems from several perspectives, including:

1. Security level (SL) division: Based on risk assessment, SL1 (basic protection) to SL4 (defense against state-level attacks) is defined, and the seven basic requirements (FR) that the system needs to meet (FR) are clarified, such as access control (FR2), data integrity (FR4), and incident response (FR7).
2. Zone vs. Pipeline Model: Divide industrial networks into logical "zones" (by function or risk level), and inter-zone communication is implemented through tightly controlled "pipelines" to minimize the attack surface. For example, the factory control area needs to be isolated from the office network, allowing only encrypted data to be transmitted through designated pipelines.
3. Defense-in-depth strategy: Multi-layer protection such as physical security, network segmentation, equipment reinforcement, and monitoring and auditing is required to avoid single-point failure. For example, a firewall (network layer), a whitelisting mechanism (host layer), and log analysis (management) are deployed simultaneously in a SCADA system.
4. Secure Development Lifecycle (SDLC): Suppliers are forced to embed security design in the hardware/software development stage, covering requirements analysis, code review, penetration testing, etc., to ensure that industrial components (such as RTUs, DCS) comply with the security function requirements of IEC 62443-4-2.

Among them, IEC 62443-4 is a key technical requirement for SDLC (Secure Development Life Cycle), which regulates the security development process of industrial components and products, and through security practices throughout the development process, SDLC requires reducing vulnerabilities from the source to ensure that industrial equipment meets security standards, and the core requirements include:

1. Security Requirements Analysis: Define security features (e.g., authentication, encryption) and attack resistance (e.g., tamper-proof) based on the target security level (SL).
2. Threat Modeling: Identify potential threats at each stage of development (e.g., unauthorized access, data leakage) and design targeted protection measures.
3. Security Design Principles: Follow principles such as least privilege and secure by default to reduce the risk of vulnerability introduction.
4. Code and test security
   o Code audit: Static/dynamic analysis ensures that the code is free of known vulnerabilities (such as buffer overflows).
   o Penetration testing: simulating attacks to verify the effectiveness of protection (such as protocol reverse cracking testing).
5. Supply Chain Management: Ensure that third-party components (such as open-source libraries) meet security requirements and record sources and versions.
6. Security Update Mechanism: Support firmware/software vulnerability fixes and patch distribution to avoid lifecycle interruptions.
7. Documentation and Training: Provide security configuration guides and train development teams on secure coding.

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Demands and Challenges

  • There is a high barrier to experience from traditional development methods to security design and development concepts that ensure network security.

  • How can the development and testing of all aspects required by the IEC 62443 standard be implemented quickly?

  • Industrial equipment relies on a large number of third-party software and hardware (such as open source libraries and communication chips), how to establish an effective supply chain security management mechanism?

  • Development teams need to master skills such as security coding and threat modeling, with long training cycles and large resource investments.

  • There is a lack of standardized safety testing tools and methods to meet the requirements for safety function verification under IEC 62443-4.

Solutions

  • Secure Coding Standard Detection

  • Security Vulnerability Scanning

  • Software Bill of Materials/Firmware Security Testing

  • Software Composition Analysis/Open Source Component Security

  • Fuzzing

  • Penetration Testing

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